Through a Nightmare Darkly
by Wizards-Pupil
Summary: Even Trelawny with her doom and gloom self never would have predicted this. Who could have? The war was over, we weren't supposed to be fighting anymore, and we weren't supposed to be in danger. But we were, and it was threatening to kill us both.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just borrowing for the time being. (And no, I won't give them back!)

"Fred! You are impossible, utterly impossible!" I exclaimed, opening the door to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and stepping up into the joke shop. Fred was right behind me, laughing at my annoyance. I couldn't believe that my boss had actually made me come over here and work with Fred. No one on earth annoyed me as much as he did.

I was a successful business witch, I had my own flat and I was well on my way to becoming a manager at the Ministry, yet he still managed to make me feel like a frustrated fifteen year old prefect. I mean, he was my friend, I loved all the Weasley's, and Fred could be a lot of fun. He was funny as all get out, and brilliant to boot. He also could argue with me like no one else, but he was so annoying!

"Come on, 'Mione, don't be a stick in the mud." He jibed, stepping in after me. He closed the door, flipping the sign so that it read 'closed' instead of 'open.'

"George!" I called. Maybe he'd be there and I wouldn't have to work with Fred. I hadn't even started the paperwork yet and I was already near the snapping point.

"Oh, Granger, that hurts!" Fred said, grabbing his chest and pretending to be hurt.

"George, if you're here, please, _please,_ come down." I called again, refusing to give up hope. Fred just laughed as he walked behind the checkout counter. He leaned against the wall and smiled at me, his ginger hair falling in his eyes. His eyes were sparkling with mischief as he glanced up the stairs that led to his and George's shared flat.

"I doubt he'll be coming down. I'm pretty sure he's out with Katie." Oh god, I really was stuck with just Fred. He practically glowed with excitement at the prospect of annoying me for an entire day. Darn Ministry, darn boss for making me come down here.

"Fine." I said begrudgingly, pulling my briefcase out and setting my paperwork on the counter.

"Just why are you here anyway?" Fred asked, his smile slipping as he stared down at the paperwork with distrust.

"You know where I work, right?" I asked, pulling a quill and ink out of my briefcase.

"Yeah, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, why?" He asked. I was actually surprised he did know. He studied my face for a moment before frowning slightly. "You really didn't think I would know, did you Granger?"

I flushed, feeling embarrassed suddenly. I didn't know why, I just felt guilty suddenly. He looked genuinely sad that I had doubted him. I decided to ignore his question, because I really didn't know the answer. "Yes, well, anyway, I've been sent because you need to renew your license for breeding Pgym Puffs."

Fred's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open in surprise. "Pygm Puffs?" a smile lifted his lips and he looked like he wanted to laugh. "The ministry sent you all the way over here for Pygm Puffs?"

I flushed again, feeling more embarrassed and slightly stupid. "Y-yes." I stuttered, hating the way he made me unsure. I gave myself a mental shake and stood straighter. "Yes, for Pygm Puffs. You've neglected your paperwork."

"Are you going to help me do it?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows at me. I giggled nervously and nodded my head.

"Yes, I'm going to help you." I paused, setting the quill down next to the ink pot. "Mainly because I want it done right. I'm not coming back here for Pygm Puffs for another year." He grinned at that before shoving himself off the wall and stepping forward towards the counter.

"All right, where do I start?"

"Paragraph two, section one, line three." I said, pointing it out. Fred nodded his head and read the question aloud.

"Is the creature in question magical?" He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. "Would I be filling this out if he wasn't?"

"I didn't make the questionnaire Fred."

"Okay, I'll just answer the questions." He looked back down at the form and scribbled something down before reading the next question. He scribbled something else down and then looked up at me. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me?"

"Let me know when you need it."

"Care to fill this in for me?"

"No Fred, that's your job."

He sighed and continued to fill in the blanks. He looked like I was torturing him, like filling in this paperwork was actually hurting him. He filled in another answer and I leaned against the counter, staring at the paperwork.

"Know any spells to magically complete this?" he asked off handedly, not moving his eyes from the paper.

"Nope." A bell sounded behind us and I jumped in surprise, spinning around and facing the door. I expected to see George coming in, or maybe Ron. It was neither, it was a tall, pale man wearing black robes. I stared at him for a moment, an uneasy feeling washing over me. I recognized him, but I couldn't place where I recognized him from.

"I'm sorry Sir," Fred said from behind me. "We're closed. You'll have to come back later, we open at nine." He kept walking forward, his long black hair swooshing behind him. He stared at us with his cold, blue eyes and stopped a few meters in front of us.

"Sir, we're closed." Fred said more firmly, putting his quill down.

"Good, it's about to be permanent." My eyes widened and he raised his wand. I acted on instinct next. I pulled my own wand out and jumped backwards, sliding over the counter and falling off the other side. I pulled Fred down at the same time that an explosion sounded above us. Fred's eyes were wide and shocked. He pulled his wand out and we both faced each other for a moment.

I nodded my head and we both stood at the same time, screaming out spells. Another bell sounded and another figure walked in as the first one deflected our spells. We sent more spells at them, diving to the side as more spells flew at us. I ran towards the aisles and ducked behind one as I barely dodged a blue spell. I could hear Fred still yelling behind me as I shot another spell at the three figures.

Three? When had another one gotten here? What's more, who on earth were they?

'BOMBARDO!" the first one yelled, the shelf I was hiding behind exploded and I dived backwards before slamming into a wall. I bit back a yelp of pain and turned back around. I needed to stay calm above all else. I shot another spell at the group of figures and realized there were now six. My spell hit one of them in the stomach and he crumpled to the grown.

They were multiplying, and they were doing it fast. I dove behind another aisle, barely avoiding a flash of purple light. I screamed another spell out, and then felt my arm explode in pain as I was hit by a jet of red light. I fell to my knees in pain, and my world began to spin. I heard Fred call my name out distantly, and then I fell forward. I hit the floor with a jarring thud, and I knew no more.

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_A/N: This takes place about a year after Deathly Hallows in case anyone is curious. Ron and Hermione are not dating, neither are Fred and Angelina. I'm not sure how long this story will be, at least ten chapters, possibly more depending on plot ideas._


	2. Chapter 2

"Hermione? Hermione, please wake up." A soft, gentle voice was calling me awake, and I let it pull me out of the deep darkness of my sleep. I became aware of someone stroking my hair, and of a gentle rocking motion as I woke up. I could recognize the voice now, it was Fred, and he sounded upset.

I blinked my eyes open, and realized I couldn't actually tell if I had opened them, it was still dark. I tried opening my eyes again, but nothing changed, I was surrounded by the suffocating darkness. Someone was holding me, but it didn't do anything to calm my fears as the memories of what had just happened resurfaced in my mind.

"Fred?" I yelped, looking around the crushing darkness wildly. Had they taken him? Had he been hurt? Where were we?

"Hermione?" Fred's voice question. The rocking motion stopped and I felt arms wrap around my shoulders tightly. "Thank Merlin, you're awake!" he gasped, pulling me into a warm, solid chest. I clutched onto it, feeling shaken and lost in the surrounding blackness.

"Fred, where are we? What happened?" I asked, shaking in his hold. I hated confined spaces, I was extremely claustrophobic. His hand moved from my shoulder to my back, holding me securely and making me feel slightly safer.

"I'm not really sure on either account, 'Mione." He said quietly. "The man that attacked the shop brought in friends, and we loss the fight. I woke up in here a while ago, I'm not sure how long it was exactly. I felt my way around the room, it's a dirt floor by the way, and found your body."

"Have you explored the rest of the room?" I asked hesitantly. I was scared to know the answer.

"No, I've not had the chance." Well, that was worse than if he actually had. Now we'd have to explore and see what it was like together. Merlin, I was not looking forward to that.

"Are you injured at all?" he asked suddenly, surprising me out of my thoughts. I blinked and did a quick body check, nothing hurt, and I could move all my limbs. "I couldn't tell for sure, I didn't feel any blood or anything broken." He continued while I checked myself.

"No, I'm okay, what about you?" I whispered, fearful suddenly.

"Thank Merlin for small favors." He breathed out, pulling me a little closer. "I'm fine too."

"You don't have a wand, do you?" I asked hesitantly. I'd just realized I was without one. I had no doubt his was missing too, but I could still hope.

"No, only thing I've got is a meter of string, three bouncy balls, and a puking pastille." A meter of string, balls, and a pastille? I didn't even want to know why he had that. I dug my hand in my own pocket and searched around in it. A galleon and a quill.

"Darn it, I've just got a galleon and a quill." Fred chuckled at that, and the sound was surprisingly comforting.

"Don't suppose we could buy our way out with that, huh?" I chuckled at his remark, feeling slightly better.

"I guess we should explore the room, huh?" I asked, my voice shaking only a little. I felt him move against me and then his hand closed around mine, his long fingers weaving with mine.

"Yep." He said in a more cheerful voice. I felt him move again, and then I loss contact with his warm body. I paused for a second, disoriented in the darkness until I felt him give my hand a gentle tug up. I moved my legs underneath me and pushed myself up from the hard dirt floor. Fred helped pull me up and steady me when I was standing.

"Where should we start?" I asked, feeling lost in this darkness.

"Well, how about we choose a direction and walk with a hand outstretched until we hit a wall?" He asked, I turned towards his voice so I could face him.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Do you want to keep track of the paces , or should I?"

"Paces?"

"Yes, paces. We'll need to know how big this room is, you never know when that could come in handy. Plus, it might give us a better idea of just where we are. I take two steps for every one of yours, so I'll keep track." I said, straightening my robe and pulling it more tightly around my shoulders. It was extremely cold in this, well, whatever we were in.

"Okay let's go this way." He said. I waited for a moment and then gave an annoyed huff.

"Fred, put your hand down, I can't see where you're pointing."

He gave a low laugh. "I just realized that." I felt a gentle tug on my hand towards the left. "How about this direction?" he asked, giving me another gentle tug.

"Sounds good to me." I said, taking a step towards him. He waited a second, and then he stepped forward. We made our way forward slowly and unsurely, tripping once and nearly falling. After twenty steps for me, ten for Fred, we felt something.

"'Mione? I just found a wall." I took another half step forward and my hand came in contact with the same wall. It was hard, cold, and also made of what felt like dirt. I moved my hand towards the left, pausing when I felt the warm flesh of Fred's hand.

"Yep, it's a wall." I said, trying not to sound too worried. "Which way do you want to go next?"

"This way." He said quietly, giving my hand a gentle tug towards him.

"Okay, wait a second." I said, pulling him to a stop as an idea occurred to me. "I'm going to mark this wall so we know we've been here."

"Clever." He said, sounding genuinely impressed. I grabbed my quill out of my pocket and dug some of the hard packed dirt out of the wall. I made a big x on the wall, deep enough that we'd feel it if we came across it again.

"Okay," he said once I was done. "You keep your hand on the wall while we walk, let me know when we reach the corner.

"Will do." I said, and we began to walk again. We walked in silence, drawing comfort from each other's hands in the crushing darkness. 30 steps later (15 for Fred) we reached the corner. I laid my palm flat against it and felt around, stretching up to see if I could reach the ceiling. I didn't feel anything but the wall.

"Okay, let's check the next one." I said after a moment. I felt a gentle tug on my hand, and then we were walking again. We made our way around the entire room in that way. It was a square room, each wall was fifty of my steps across. I was really surprised at just how big the room actually was.

"Fred?" I questioned once we stopped walking. It was still painfully dark, but I was getting better at judging where he was at.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice going up a slight bit at the end like he was asking a question.

"Can you reach the ceiling?" I heard a faint rustle of robes, and then a huff of breath.

"Not by just stretching, I'm going to try and jump." I waited for a moment in silence. "Umm, 'Mione? I'm going to need my hand."

"Oh," I said, blushing. I dropped his hand and instantly felt worse. The darkness seemed to close in around me, suffocating me and cutting me off. I heard a whoosh of air and then a smack on the floor as he landed. I stood perfectly still and focused on breathing, forcing myself to stay calm.

"Nope, can't reach it that way either." He said a moment later. I waited silently, tears filling my eyes as his voice faded away.

"Mione, where'd ya go?" Fred asked, sounding confused.

"Over here, I haven't moved." I said, waving my arms around in hopes of brushing him.

"Okay," Fred said, sounding closer. A moment later I felt a hand on my arm and I almost yelped. "Gotcha." He said. His hand traveled down my arm until he found my hand again.

"I don't suppose you know how to do wandless magic?" Fred asked, sounding only slightly hopeful.

"No, I'd make a light if I did."

"That was going to be my suggestion. Oh well, guess it's just us and the dark." I felt a tug on my hand and then a slight smacking sound. "Come on 'Mione, might as well get comfortable." I lowered myself down unsurely, feeling extremely scared and worried.

"Okay, so there are no door or windows and we can't feel the ceiling." I summarized, looking around the darkness uneasily.

"Yep, we are in deep trouble."

"Fred, we passed deep trouble when the man brought his friends in the shop. We are over our heads now."

"How long do you think we've been here?" he questioned, scooting closer to me.

"I don't know, but we need to figure out a way-" I cut my statement off half way, I heard something coming from the other side of the wall we were leaning against.

"Did you?" He started, letting me figure out the rest of the question.

"The walls vibrating." I whispered back, clutching his hand and tugging it forward. We both scooted forward before turning around facing the wall.

It was starting to glow, emitting a faint light. I glanced over at Fred and saw him clearly for the first time in what felt like forever. He was covered in dirt and sweat, and had a long, deep scratch on his right cheek that looked painful. He glanced over at me with his bright blue eyes before looking back at the wall. I looked back as well, biting my lip in worry. It grew even brighter, and then the outline of a door appeared faintly dark against the glowing light. I tightened my grip on Fred's hand without thought, terror filling me as I looked at the appearing door. How had we not seen or felt it? Was it a notice-me-not charm or a concealment spell? Either way, we wouldn't have this problem again, we'd figure out a way to find it.

The light faded away and the crushing darkness swallowed us again. We sat perfectly still, still facing the wall. A moment later a deep scraping sound echoed in the room, and the door opened.

"Whys it dark in here?" A deep voice echoed. I heard the distinct 'whoosh' of a wand waving through the air, and then a glowing orb appeared in the middle of the air above our heads. Its light filled the room, allowing us to see our kidnapper for the first time. It was the same wizard who had come into WWW and attacked us. Fred and I both tensed up at the same time as we looked at him. The door was still open behind him, and I saw a chance to escape, we just had to take him out.

I let go of Fred's hand and steeled my legs to jump up. I felt him do the same next to me without looking. The dark wizard took a step forward, and we leapt. We lunged at him together, I was aiming for his waist, and Fred for his head. He took a step back and waved his wand, blasting us back into the far wall in a crumpled heap. I landed face first in the hard dirt, and Fred fell on top of me.

"Did you really think that would work?" he questioned, his voice mocking and cold.

"Well, we hoped." Fred said, righting himself and accidentally banging his elbow into my rib.

"I assure you it, was in vain. I've come to take the girl." Fred froze above me, before slowly turning towards the wizard. I was shocked, staring at the wizard in disbelief. What would he want with me? And who the bloody hell was this man?

"Come peacefully and I'll be gentle." He said mockingly. I didn't believe him, not at all. Still, I didn't want him to hurt Fred. I pushed myself up off the hard dirt floor, supporting my weight with my arms.

"Uh-uh, no deal." Fred said bitingly, placing himself between the wizard and me. An evil grin stole across his lips and fear for Fred rose up within me.

"No, I'll come." I said quietly, reaching forward and grabbing Fred's hand in my own. I squeezed it tightly, drawing courage from its feel, and hoping I was giving him some comfort.

"Smart bitch, I mean witch." He said, smirking down at me. Fred tensed and made to stand, but I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. I stood up stiffly and dusted my robes off before stepping forward, my head held high and my heart racing.


	3. Chapter 3

He led me outside the room, locking the door behind us. He tied my hands up with a silver cord, and then grabbed the end of it, leading me along like some sort of puppy.

"Just in case, can't have you escaping." He said, smirking at me. He gripped his wand in his hand and then twisted into the air, apparating us away. We reappeared a moment later, and I fell to the floor as I hit the slippery wooden floor. We were in some sort of a shack. It was made completely of wood, the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. There was a fire place in one corner, and two chairs in the middle of the room. A work table was against the wall across from the fireplace. The wizard jerked my cord and forced me up roughly before jerking me towards one of the chairs in the middle of the room. He forced me into it, waving his wand and tying me to it. He waved his wand again, and I was suddenly blindfolded, unable to see or move.

"Where is the keyfinder?" He asked his voice right next to my ear. I jumped before leaning away from him, straining against my bonds. I had no idea who the keyfinder was; I didn't even know what it was for that matter.

A whoosh of air sounded to my right, and then I felt the stinging pain of a slap as his hand made contact with my cheek. My head snapped back and tears filled my eyes at the pain. I refused to let them fall though, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Do you know where it is?" he asked again, his putrid breath on my left side now. I remained stubbornly silent, my mind racing as I tried to figure out who or what the keyfinder was and how the heck I was going to get Fred and myself out of here. I heard another whoosh and felt another flare of pain as he slapped my left cheek.

"Answer me!" he snarled, and then he slapped me again and again. The tears filling my eyes welled up, threatening to spill over. I fought them back, refusing to cry, refusing to make any sign of pain.

"Fine, perhaps I should try a different method to loosen your tongue." He stepped back, and I heard him walk across the room, his boots echoing across the room ominously. A strange clinking noise came from the far sound of the room, like metal against wood. A moment later, he was back by my side.

"This will elicit a response." He said darkly, and then I felt a piercing pain in my arm like he stuck a needle in it. A heartbeat later my arm started to throb as what felt like liquid fire shot through my veins. He was right, that brought a response, I screamed in pain and thrashed against my bonds, trying in vain to break free and relieve the terrible pain. A roaring filled my ears and I couldn't get enough air. I gasped for breath before my head spun, and then I knew no more.

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"Hermione? Merlin, Hermione, wake up!" Fred's voice echoed in my head, once again pulling me out of the darkness of my sleep. I blinked my eyes open, hissing as I became aware of a throbbing pain in my right arm. The hiss of air agitated my lip, which I realized with a sinking feeling, was split. My nose was stuffed and my ribs stung, but nothing else hurt. I looked around the room slowly, trying not to cry as I became aware of all my various pains, and realized I was back in the dungeon/cell with Fred. He was holding me in his lap with his arm wrapped around me, brushing the hair out of my face gently as he rocked me.

"Fred?" I questioned, fighting back a gasp of pain as my lip started to bleed again. His bright blue eyes found mine and a relieved look filled his face.

"'Mione? Thank Merlin, I was scared you wouldn't wake up!" he gasped out, pulling me to his chest and holding me tight.

"Déjà vu much?" I asked, chuckling softly as I relaxed into his hold. This was far too much like when he I had woke me up earlier. At least now it wasn't dark, the glowing orb was still floating above our heads and lighting the room up.

"What happened exactly?" I asked quietly, looking around the room.

"He took you away, you were gone for hours! Then when he brought you back you were unconscious and bleeding. He froze me so I couldn't move to help you or hurt him. About five minutes after he left I unfroze and came to help you. I managed to staunch the bleeding in your arm with a piece of my robe." He explained, staring at me like he was scared I'd break. I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in my chest and slowly pushed myself up, trembling slightly as I did so.

"What did he do to you Hermione?" he asked once I was sitting up. I glanced down at my arm before I answered, surprised at how well he had bandaged me up.

"I'm not really all that sure. He apparated me away from here, to some sort of shack. He tied me up to a chair and blindfolded me. He kept asking me where the 'keyfinder' was. I don't even know what the keyfinder is."

"Keyfinder?"

"Yes, I take it you don't know either?"

"Not a clue."

"Darn it, I was hoping it was just because I was muggle born." I sighed, scooting back and leaning against the wall. Fred gave half a smile, as he looked at me, still looking worried.

"Relax, Fred." I said after a moment, leaning my head back against the wall and closing my eyes. "I'm okay. Just a little sore." Well, that was a bit of a lie. I was a _lot_ sore, my whole body was throbbing, and whatever that man had done to my arm, it felt like it was on fire. My stomach growled suddenly and my eyes popped open as I blushed in embarrassment. Fred grinned at me, a knowing look on his face.

"I'm hungry too." He laughed. "I'm actually thinking about eating that puking pastille." A smile lifted my lips and I let out a giggle, not even minding that my split lip was protesting my grin.

"Care to split it?" Before he got a chance to respond to my question a loud siren sounded above us, echoing around the room and growing louder until we were both hunched over with our hands pressed against our ears in an attempt to muffle the painfully loud noise.

The noise grew louder, and a roaring filled my ears as the room spun around me. For the third time in a far too short period of time, I found the world growing black as I slipped into unconsciousness.

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I blinked my eyes open and rolled over, ignoring the throbbing pain in half my body. I laid my hands down flat on the dirt floor and pushed myself up into a sitting position. This whole passing out thing was starting to get extremely old. I looked down at my feet and instantly moved, Fred was lying in a crumpled heap beside me. I crawled over to him, rolling him over gently before pulling the upper half of his body into my lap. I held him tightly, rocking him back and forth as I looked around the room quickly, trying to determine just what had happened, and if anything had changed.

There was a tray of food about a meter to my left. It had bread, cheese, and some sort of soup on it along with a pitcher of water. There were no cups or silverware.

I let my eyes drift back to Fred, looking him up and down to see if he had been injured while we were unconscious. He was okay, I didn't see any injuries. "Fred?" I whispered, brushing his hair off of his face. "Wake up, Freddie." He stirred underneath me, woken by my voice or touch. His eyes fluttered open, hazy before they focused in on me.

"Morning sleeping beauty." I said softly, helping him sit up. He swayed slightly, gripping my shoulder for support.

"Well, while I agree with you about my dashing looks, I would appreciate it if you used something a little more masculine next time." I laughed at that, earning myself a smile from him.

"Okay, how about sleeping stud?"

He turned his head back towards me, a big grin on his face now. "Much better."

I grinned back, feeling slightly odd, my heart fluttered a little as he smiled and I had the urge to blush.

"They brought us some food." I said after a moment, just for something to say. He nodded his head before turning towards the indicated food.

"No silverware?" he asked with mock disgust. "Do they expect us to use our hands?" He grabbed a piece of the bread off the platter and took a bite. "Must know me pretty well." He said through a mouth full of bread. I grinned again and scooted towards the plate. He handed me the other piece of the bread and I took it, nibbling a bit off the end. It wasn't bad considering we were trapped in a dirt cell. It wasn't even all that dried out.

"Guess we should go ahead and eat the soup, that way we'll have something to put the water in." Fred said picking up the soup and poking it with his bread.

"What type is it?" I questioned fearfully.

"I'm not sure we should be asking what it is so much as what it was." He replied, pulling the bread back out of the soup and watching the creamy, chunky, yellow liquid fall back into the bowl.

"I'll try it first, I'm more resilient." I said grabbing my bowl and bread. Fred stretched his hand out to stop me but he was too late. I swallowed the bite quickly, trying not to let it linger on my tongue.

"The bread's better by its self." I choked. He stared at me for a few moments before a grin erupted on his lips.

"That bad huh?"

"That bad."

"Well," he said as he picked up the cheese. "At least the cheese isn't moldy."

"Yeah," I said, watching him take a bite of the cheddar. "At least it's not moldy." We finished the meal and drank the water eagerly. I didn't realize how tired I was until I finished the water. Fred must have felt the same way because he let out a big yawn.

"Where and how do we want to sleep?" Fred asked once he stopped yawning.

"I think we should sleep over in the far corner away from the door." I said, shivering slightly. It had gotten colder in here since dinner. He nodded his head and stood, offering me his hand. I took it and let him pull me up. We walked to the other corner hand in hand, neither of us thinking about dropping the others hand. We made our way to the other corner before we stopped and looked down at the dirt floor with disinterest. Fred dropped my hand and sat down before stretching out. He tucked one arm under his head to use as a pillow. I stood still for an awkward moment before lowering myself down too. I laid about half a meter from him, wrapping my robe around myself tightly. We laid there in awkward silence for a moment, both of us shivering in the chill. I wanted to scoot closer to him but I didn't want it to be awkward. I honestly wanted to be near him so that I knew he'd still be there when I woke up, I was scared and really wanted some comfort.

"Oh bugger this." Fred finally said, turning his head towards me. "Would you mind scooting closer 'Mione?" I shook my head no, and scooted closer to him eagerly. I wrapped my arm around his waist and leaned my head against his shoulder. I took my robe and wrapped it around us, trying to block out the chilly air.

"That's much better." He breathed out, leaning his head against my hair. It was much warmer over here and much softer than the cold dirt. He wrapped his other arm around me, holding me against him gently.


	4. Chapter 4

The days passed slowly but surely. We couldn't keep track of the days too well, having to measure time by our meals. They only gave us one a day, and it was always the same thing. The wizard came by for me every other day, always asking the same thing. Fred was the reason I didn't go crazy. We kept each other entertained, both trying to comfort and encourage the other. He told me jokes constantly, always making me laugh when ever I felt down. I told him my favorite stories, mostly muggle ones he'd never heard of. He liked Lord of the Rings best, finding it the most interesting one.

The days added up, turning into weeks, and finally months. I was beginning to get desperate trying to think of some way to escape. We only had the items that had been in our pockets when we were captured, so we had to be inventive.

I finished eating the awful soup and set my bowl down, leaning against the wall and watching Fred finish his up.

I was just about to ask him about a new idea on escaping when the door opened. I turned towards it in surprise; he'd never visited us after a meal before. He waved his wand and Fred fell forward unconscious, unable to stop the wizard. Ever since that first day the Wizard had frozen Fred when he came for me, apparently he was scared that Fred would try and hut him.

"Witch, come with me." He said darkly. I rose up quickly and stepped forward. I'd refused once before, and he'd whipped Fred because of it. I wasn't about to let something like that happen again. He bound me like he always did before apparating us away to the familiar shack. He tied me to the chair and blind folded me, leaving me blind and unable to move as always.

"Where is the keyfinder?" He hissed. I shook my head, not bothering to speak. He never believed me, and he never changed his question. I was beginning to think he was quite mad. I braced myself for the slap that was sure to come, it always did when I told him no. This time though, no slap came. I waited for a moment, and then I screamed in pain as he hit my ribs. It wasn't with his fist either, it was something long, thin, hard, and cold. He pulled the weapon back and hit me again, I heard a crack and knew several of my ribs had just broken. Tears poured down my eyes and I couldn't stop them, couldn't fight them. I gasped for breath desperately, trying not to scream as my side throbbed in pain.

"Where is the Keyfinder?" he yelled again, drawing nearer my face.

"I don't know!" I cried out, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I don't believe you!"He bellowed, his spittle flying onto my face. I was in too much pain to be disgusted. He hit me again, this time with his fist on my jaw. My head snapped to the side, pain and blood filling my mouth. I spat it out, horrified to feel a tooth fall with the blood. Merlin, why had he taken us? What had we done to him?

"I've a new plan for you, something that will surely loosen your tongue." Panic filled my stomach and I fought the urge to scream. He grabbed my right arm and pulled it out, straightening it and forcing it palm up.

"This might hurt." He whispered viscously. A moment later I felt what must have been a hundred needles sink into my skin and I let out a blood curdling scream. The awful feeling of liquid fire flowed through my veins, and then the blessed darkness over took me.

{}{}{}

"What did you do to her you bastard?" Fred's wonderfully familiar voice rang out, echoing in the dark cell ominously and full of rage. I opened my weary eyes and immediately shut them again as my body flared in pain. Everything hurt, my head, my chest, my arms, even my legs! I heard a bang and a crash and forced my eyes open and my body up, looking around wildly for Fred, he was nowhere to be seen. The cell was empty, and I was alone.

He'd taken Fred.

"No!" I screamed out, stumbling to my feet painfully. Not Fred, I couldn't let him hurt Fred. I ran towards the door on unsteady feet and pounded it with my fists. No response came, the only noise the echo of my fist banging against the dirt. I sunk to my knees painfully, still screaming out for Fred with my hoarse voice. The light disappeared and I was alone in the dark.

How had this all happened? Why had he taken us? What had we done? Even Trelawny with her doom and gloom self would never have predicted this could happen. Who would have? The war was over, we weren't supposed to be fighting anymore, we weren't supposed to be in danger.

But we were, we were trapped in a dirt prison and our captor was going to kill us. My heart was beating wildly in my chest and my lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. One thought kept playing over and over in my head. I must save Fred. I had to save him, I had to get him out of this nightmare. Panic threatened to grip me but I pushed it away angrily. I would not lose myself, I would not let panic take me.

The time for thinking was past, it was time to act. It was time to get the hell out of this prison. I crawled along the floor to the far left corner, running my hands along the floor in search of an uneven patch. I found it a moment later and clawed at the loose dirt with my sore fingers. I kept digging, pushing the dirt away until my fingers came into contact with cold metal. I pulled the Galleon out of the hole, along with the string, quill, balls and pastille. We'd buried them in this corner to make sure they stayed safe. It wasn't much, but it was all we had.

It would be just enough to get us out of this prison. Well, if everything went to plan, and I was going to make sure it did. I worked quickly, putting everything I would need in place, praying it would all work. Once I had everything in place, I sat back down and let out a painful breath. My body was throbbing from pain, and tingling in anticipation. I couldn't wait to see if everything worked, but I was also terrified it wouldn't work. All I could do was wait, wait and hope.

I didn't have to wait much longer. I heard the distinct patter of approaching feet and hopped up eagerly, grabbing the galleon and balls tightly in my hand. I swallowed the pastille and threw up the soup and bread I'd eaten earlier. I stepped back, wiping my lips and grabbed the rope I'd tied off before kneeling down and readying myself to act. The door swung open and Fred was thrown in, over my rope and into the middle of the room.

"That light gone out again!" the wizard bellowed, stepping forward. He stepped over the rope and onto the pile of sick, slipping. He stepped backward, and I pulled the rope tight, tripping him and causing him to bellow in pain as he hit the floor. I threw the balls at his head, making him bellow in pain as I jumped on top of him, my quill firmly grasped in my hand. I stabbed blindly at him with my right hand, praying that I made contact. I pummeled my fist into the side of his head with my left fist and he screeched out, swinging wildly at the air, but I was already moving. I brought the rope up around his arms, tying his hands in place with strength I hadn't known I had. His hands firmly tied in place I moved to his legs, tying them in place with what little string was left. My hands ghosted back up his body, feeling his pockets for the weapon I had yet to find.

Where was his bloody wand?

"Fred?" I called. Standing up and running towards where he had landed. The wizard didn't have a wand on him, so I decided we'd just leave out the still open door. I found him a moment later, crumpled up and unconscious. His left arm was bent at an unnatural angle and his left eye was swollen shut. Anger filled me and I had to fight the urge to turn back and kick the unconscious wizard in the head.

I shook Fred's shoulders gently, trying to wake him quickly without hurting him. He stirred a moment later, moaning in pain as he woke.

"Mione?" he questioned groggily, his eyes still closed.

"Yes Fred, it's me. I need you to stand up right now." I said, pulling him into a sitting position. He hissed in pain, but tried to push himself up. I wrapped my arms around his waist, ignoring my throbbing chest and tugged him up. He grabbed hold of my shoulders and a moment later, we were both standing.

"Come on, Fred. I'm not sure how long we have before he wakes up. " I gasped, struggling forward on my shaky legs. Merlin, this was so not a good time to have a sprained ankle. Fred wrapped his good arm around my waist and struggled forward, helping take some of the weight off my bad foot.

"What happened?" he asked as we walked out the door. He was looking around with his right eye wildly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I executed our escape plan." I huffed, staggering down the dark hallway. I had no idea where it led, but we didn't have any choice but to follow it. It grew brighter as we followed it, and narrower. It curved to the left, and then a staircase appeared. We took the steps as quickly as we could, adrenaline giving us strength and dulling the pain of our many injuries. We climbed for what seemed like forever, only able to see that the stairs led to some sort of landing.

Fred, being several inches taller than me, saw what was at the top first. He was fully awake now, but hadn't drilled me with questions as I had expected him to.

"It's a door 'Mione! I can't tell where it leads though." He gasped out, struggling for breath as we climbed. A moment later I saw the door as well, we were about. We stumbled up the last few steps, leaning on each other as we neared the top. We almost fell to our knees as we climbed the last step. We stumbled forward, groping blindly for the knob. I found it underneath my hand and twisted, pushing the door open.

It scraped against the ground loudly, echoing in the small room. Fred leaned heavily against me and then we both forced the door open, sucking in a deep breath when we saw the gentle light of the moonlit night.

We had made it outside. There was a clearing in front of us, and at the other end of it was a forest of some sorts. If we could make it across to it, we would be home free. We could hide in the cover of the trees. We took a deep breath, and then together, we ran for the trees.

"REDUCTO!" Someone yelled from behind us. The ground exploded mere feet from us, and we redoubled our speed, completely ignoring all the pain in our legs and pushing with everything we had. More spells came flying all around us, lighting the night and our path. We dodged left and right, never moving further than half a meter from each other. Another spell exploded behind us, and the force of it knocked us forward, into the cover of the woods. I pulled myself back up, grabbing Fred's arm and helping him up as well. We ran forward again, diving into the cover of the woods.

We ran blindly, avoiding the flashes of light that were still flaring behind us, heading deeper into the woods. We ran uncaring, wanting only to lose ourselves in the cover of the trees.

We ran out onto an open road.

I pulled up short, stopping Fred as well. Lights were coming towards us and a wildly dangerous idea occurred to me. I raised my hands and turned towards the lights, praying to Merlin the car would stop.


	5. Chapter 5

Fred pulled my arm wildly, trying to pull me out of the middle of the road. I was having none of it. That car was going to stop, or it was going to hit me. Either way, I wasn't moving.

It pulled to a screeching stop in front of me. The window already down and the muggle sticking her head out before the car had even pulled to a full stop.

"What happened? Are you all alright?"

"No!" I cried, staggering forward and letting all the pain I'd been feeling show on my face. "We need help, we've been attacked!"

"Do you need a ride?" She asked, unlocking her vehicle. I was shocked by her willingness to help us. If I'd have been driving down this road at night I wouldn't have stopped for someone who looked like me.

"Yes!" Fred gasped, limping forward beside me. The woman looked at him with wide, worried eyes.

"Come on in, hurry!" She yelped, looking shocked. I opened the car door quickly, letting Fred climb in before I followed him. She hit the gas before I had the door shut. Fred fell into me, yelping in pain as his arm collided against mine. I slammed the door and leaned over him, grabbing his hand and examining his arm. It was broken in one spot, and his shoulder had gotten dislocated.

"Gideon," I gasped out, still trying to regain my breath. His eyes widened at the use of his middle name, but he went with it. "This is going to hurt but it has to be done." I handed him a bunched up strip of my robe and he bit down on it as I grabbed his upper arm. "One. Two. _Three_!" I jerked on three and he let out a screech of pain as I wrenched his arm back into its socket. His already sweaty brow bunched up and his eyes welled with tears as he closed them. I felt awful for causing him pain, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I fell back against my seat, trying to catch my breath. My side was throbbing and I felt like I couldn't get any air, like I was suffocating. I didn't know how bad my ribs were, but we both needed to see a doctor. I closed my eyes and took another breath, forcing myself to even out my breathing. I became aware of music playing faintly in the background, I didn't know the song but the simple normalness of music shocked me and brought tears to my eyes. How long had we been locked up? It felt like forever, I couldn't remember the last time I had listened to music.

"Where do you need to go?" The muggle asked. I snapped my eyes opened and rubbed the back of my hand against them, ridding myself of the tears.

"Just keep driving please, we need to get as far away from here as possible." She nodded her head, staring at us in the mirror.

"That was brilliant, Jean." Fred whispered, his head leaning against the back of the seat and his eyes closed tight.

"You were brilliant." I whispered back, tears filling my eyes as the enormity of what had just happened fully occurred to me. I had been so worried about him, so scared he would be hurt. When he had reappeared, injured and beaten, I'd nearly gone mad with anger. I could have killed that wizard if I hadn't been so concerned about getting him out of there. I didn't know what I would have done if he hadn't woken up, if he had been hurt worse or hadn't come back at all.

"How about a hospital? You two look pretty beat up." The muggle said. The song stopped playing and some announcer came on. I started to answer her but she held up her hand to silence me and turned up the radio.

…_Brown bushy hair and brown eyes. She's five foot five and has a bandaged arm. She has scars on the back of her left hand that read 'I must not defy orders'. The male is red head with shoulder length hair. He has blue eyes and is five foot nine, or six. He has a scar on his neck and on the back of his left hand as well. They read 'I must not cause trouble,' and 'I must not defy orders._' The announcer droned on, but I wasn't listening anymore, it'd turned my head towards Fred, horror filling me as I realized the muggle police was describing us.

…_The perpetrators are extremely dangerous and should not be approached…_ the muggle hit her breaks, stopping the car and sending Fred and me forward. We hit the back of her chair and let out a pained cry.

"GET OUT OF MY CAR!" She screamed. I opened my eyes at the same time I heard an all too familiar metallic noise. She had a gun, and was aiming it at Fred and myself. I gripped his arm, already kicking the door open. Fred wouldn't know what a gun was, he wouldn't realize how dangerous it was. I pulled him out of the car, ignoring his protest as I headed towards the woods. We were at the edge of them, they ended in about fifty meters, and a house stood at the end of them.

The car raced away, her tires squealing as she hit the gas. I watched her go frozen in my spot. What had just happened? Why were the muggle police after us?

Where were we even at?

Fred moaned beside me and swayed on his feet. That shook me out of my reverie. I stepped forward and wrapped my arm around his chest, helping support his weight. I walked us towards the house slowly, deciding we'd check there in hopes that the muggles didn't hear that we were apparently wanted. Fred didn't say anything as we neared the house, using his energy for breathing instead. I wonder what that wizard had done to him, how bad he'd really been hurt. He'd down play it, I knew he would, so I'd just have to examine him as soon as I got the chance.

We reached the house and walked up to its front door. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, praying that someone would answer. A moment later the door swung open, revealing a warmly lit living room, and a tall willowy woman.

"Can I hel-good god!" She gasped, seeing Fred and myself. I staggered under Fred's weight, holding him up as he started to lose consciousness. My hand around his waist was growing wet, and I realized it was blood with sinking horror.

"My name is Jean, and this is my husband, Greg Gideon. Please," I gasped, tears falling down my face. "Do you have a first aid kit and bathroom I can borrow?" she nodded her head, stepping back and letting me in the house. I stumbled up the steps, almost falling from Fred's weight. She directed me towards a back room, letting me into what was a very spacious bathroom. I laid Fred down against the tub, lowering myself onto the toilet. There was a hairbow sitting on the sink and I snatched it eagerly, pulling my crazy hair back in a sloppy bun.

"Here." The woman said, thrusting a first aid kit into my hand. I opened it eagerly.

"Do you have a sewing kit? Needle and thread?" I asked, glancing up at her before I moved towards Fred. She flipped her long, straight, black, hair behind her and nodded her head. She turned around and fled from the room, looking pale. I gently took Fred's robe off, pushing it off his arms and checking the damage. His arm was definitely broken. His head lolled to the side and I got a better look at his neck. It was scratched, deep, and looked like someone had used a knife on it. Anger welled up in my belly and I wanted to hit something. I grabbed a towel off the counter and stuck it under his head, using it as a pillow for him. I opened the first aid kit and took out an antiseptic wipe, washing his neck off before bandaging the wound.

"Here you go." She said again. I turned and grabbed the sewing kit.

"Do you have a blanket and wood? Something like sticks?" I asked, reaching for Fred's shirt. I tugged it up gently, pulling it over his head. She was still standing behind me. I looked over my shoulder, my eyes narrowing when I realized she was ogling him. The poor man was beaten, bruised, and bleeding, and this bimbo muggle was ogling him!

That annoyed me far more than it should have. I mean, other than the fact that she was staring instead of helping, the very fact that she was staring was annoying me. If I'd have had my wand I'd have been tempted to hex her. I gave myself a mental shake and forced myself to focus. Now was not the time to be considering my feelings for Fred. I wasn't about to deny I had feelings either, I'd realized that while I was in the cell alone. I liked Fred, and that worried me. Still, now was not the time to be doing this.

"Please." I snapped, drawing her back to me. She nodded her head and left again. I turned back towards Fred, gasping when I saw his blue eyes staring up at me. I was holding a needle and thread, and I almost dropped it. He had beautiful eyes, even with his swollen face his eyes were still breathtaking.

"Are you going to sew me up?" He asked quietly, his eyes half lidded and tired looking. I nodded my head softly, forcing myself to focus and not panic.

"Okay, just asking." I wiped the area clean, shuddering as I saw how deeply he was cut. That wizard had slashed him, and he'd done it deep. I brought the needle up to his chest, my hands shaking.

"So, you sew often?" Fred asked, taking my mind off what I was about to do. I smiled softly at his attempt to calm me down.

"All the time, I'm practically a seamstress." I replied coyly, gentle pulling the thread tight. He winced a bit, but didn't cry out. I sewed him up as quickly as I could, thanking Merlin that I had taken the healing classes.

"Is this okay?" The muggle woman questioned, reappearing yet again. She handed me a towel and two pieces of wood along with a short length or rope.

"Brilliant, thanks." I said, turning back to Fred. I tied the thread off and bandaged the stitches.

"Thanks." Fred breathed out, breathing heavily as he leaned his head back against the towel.

"You're welcome ." The muggle said, smiling brilliantly. I wrapped the blanket around Fred's arm before setting the bone. He cried out, clenching his fist in a vain effort not to scream. I wrapped the blanket around it more securely and then tied it off, using the wood to secure it in place.

I leaned back and examined him. His eye was still swollen, painfully so, but I was more worried about his legs. His pants were stained with dirt, and what looked like blood. I bit my lip nervously before looking him into the eyes. He smiled at me nodding his head softly, letting me know it was okay to take his pants off.

"Umm, could we have some privacy for a moment?" I asked softly, not bothering to look at the muggle, I knew she was still there.

"Sure." She said quickly, a moment later the door shut. I scooted forward and undid Fred's pants, my hand shaking as I did so. I was terrified by what his legs may look like, but I was also scared by how intimate this was. He grabbed my hand in his own, and undid his pants for me before pushing them down his waist. He was wearing a pair of bright green boxers, which threatened to make me smile. It was so very Fred.

I pulled his pants the rest of the way off, gasping when I saw how cut up his legs were. There had to be a hundred cuts on his legs, and they all looked like knife wounds. I grabbed the antiseptic pad and wiped his legs down, cringing when he hissed in pain.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, placing bandages on the worse ones.

"It's not your fault, and don't forget to bandage yourself." He said, lifting my chin and forcing me to look at him. My eyes were filled with tears and my hands were shaking. It was all too much, everything that had happened, everything that was happening. The kidnapping, the torture, the fact that we were wanted by the muggle police.

"I know how you take care of everyone else and forget yourself. How's your arm doing?" He asked quietly, his eyes locked on mine. I couldn't move, I was breathless and oddly fuzzy headed. My eyes shot to his lips and then back to his blue eyes as I realized I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to kiss Fred.

It wasn't really surprising either. I'd gotten to know him really well during this whole thing; he'd grown to be extremely important to me. I just didn't know how he felt, what I was to him. He'd become more than just a friend to me, and much more than he had been before. I liked him, I really, _really,_ liked him.

His eyes shot to my lips as well, his tongue licked his lips and I felt myself suck in a deep breath. He leaned forward slightly, unable to move any more. I leaned forward as well, closing the distance between our two faces.


	6. Chapter 6

I leaned forward, centimeters from kissing Fred, when I heard the door open behind me. I drew back sharply and looked back down at his legs. I pulled his pants back up and helped him fasten them before turning to face the muggle.

"There's an officer at the door. I'm going to go answer it. There's a suitcase on the bed with a change of clothes and some other things. Take it and go, you have a few minutes before the officer will be back here." My eyes grew wide and I nodded my head, speechless. She closed the door, and I moved. I grabbed Fred's good arm and pulled him up, grabbing the first aid kit and staggering out of the bathroom. I went in the direction she had indicated and stumbled into the bedroom. A single duffle bag sat on the neatly made bed. I took it and draped it over my shoulder, cringing as it started causing my shoulder to ache. This whole injured thing seriously sucked. I couldn't do anything without hurting myself.

"Is this the bedroom ma'am?" A deep voice asked from outside the room. I turned my head towards Fred, my eyes wide. He jerked his head to the left, pointing at an open window. A grin lifted my lips and I stepped forward, helping Fred through. He went through first and then turned towards me, helping me out the window. We raced across the yard, heading for the woods at the back. We kept low, praying that the shadows of the yard would hide us. We reached the trees moments later, breathing out a relieved sigh before continuing. We traveled for another twenty or so minutes before stopping and sinking behind some trees.

We leaned against them, breathing heavily and shaking slightly in the cold night air. It had been early fall when we were captured, we were now well on our way to winter by the feel of it.

"What happened?" Fred asked, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

"We apparently are wanted by the muggle police. That's what the announcer said in the car. She pulled a gun on us, and extremely painful, and lethal muggle weapon. We escaped in a muggle house- that's when you passed out- she let us use her bathroom and first aid kit. The police came to her house, probably tipped off by the muggle in the car. We had to get out or get caught." I explained, tilting my head so I could look at him. He was handsome, beat up, bruised, and sweating, and he was still handsome. Merlin only knew what I looked like.

He tilted his head, looking over at me with a faint smile. "We escaped." He breathed out. "We can barely walk and we escaped not only our crazy captors, but muggle cops as well." He let out a hoarse laugh and smiled even wider. "It's not much, and was mostly luck, but I'm feeling pretty good about ourselves." A smile lifted my own lips as well, I couldn't help it, he made me smile.

"What's in the bag?" He asked after a moment, looking into my eyes and making me fuzzy minded again. I swallowed and licked my lips, forcing my eyes off of him. I took another deep breath and looked down at the bag. I opened it and pulled the first thing out, two changes of clothes, two sweaters and two jeans, one roughly Fred's size and the other mine, a little long but I could make them work. Next were three blankets and two small pillows. Last, two water bottles, a few energy bars, and a map. A grin lifted my lips as I looked at the supplies. I'd have to figure out who she was and send her some money whenever we got back.

"Do you think we're far enough in to turn in for the night?"

"I've no idea," I replied, "but I can't make it any further. This is going to have to do."

"Thank Merlin." He breathed out, coughing slightly. I looked at him worriedly before scooting closer. I put my hand to his forehead and felt it, he was warm, but I wasn't sure if it was from a fever or just running.

I turned back to the bag and laid a blanket down before turning back to him. "Lay down." I ordered, grabbing out the other two blankets. He shook his head.

"No." he coughed, "I need to check on you first."

"I can examine myself." I protested, shaking my head. He stilled me with a hand on my arm.

"I want to make sure you're alright, 'Mione. Please let me take care of you." I bit my lip nervously, staring at his bruised face and swollen neck worriedly. After a moment I nodded my head, unable to resist his puppy dog eyes.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed hoarsely and smiled. He scooted towards me and gently took my arm in his hand, gently turning it over to examine it. I hadn't looked at it clearly since this night had started. It was covered in blood from hundreds of little cuts. It was bruised and swelling some as well. He pried the first aid kit open with one hand, keeping my hand resting on his lap, and pulled out an antiseptic wipe. I hissed slightly as the cloth touched my extremely sensitive skin, but the way he was handling it made me want to hiss in a completely different way. My mind drifted back to what had almost happened a few minutes ago and I fought the urge to suck in a painful breath.

I had almost kiss Fred. Fred Weasley who had become closer to me than I would have ever thought possible. Who, if I were being completely honest, I would have loved to kiss, and be kissed by.

"Take off your shirt." Fred whispered, his eyes locked firmly on the ground. I squirmed uncomfortably for a minute but did as he asked. My ribs were extremely painful, making me want to cry out as my hands brushed them. I looked down at them with a bit of disgust, they were turning black and looked like they were starting to swell.

"'Mione!" was his pained whisper. I grimaced and shrugged noncommittally. He raised a tentative hand and brought it to my broken ribs, his touch feather light and gentle. I shivered against the feel of it, fighting back a hiss of pain, and a moan. His eyes shot back to mine, stealing my breath away with the look of tender care in them. "Hold still, I'll bind them."

'With what?' I almost asked when he pulled out a bed sheet. I wondered momentarily where he had gotten it, but decided against asking. He ripped it into several long strips before he started to wrap them around me, his touch still barely ghosting over me. The pain was bad, but his nearness was helping to distract me from it. I focused solely on the touch of his hand, the blue of his eyes, the way his hair fell against his neck. Details and feelings I had managed to memorize during our long imprisonment but still loved focusing on.

"There," he said after a few moments, his eyes shooting up and catching mine. "How are you legs?"

"Good," I breathed out, still lost in his eyes. "My ankle is hurt, but there's nothing we can do for that right now. I'll just have to get us both decent sized walking sticks." I finished in an airy whisper. I was sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me, supporting my weight on my hands. Fred was sitting at my feet, leaning over me to look into my eyes, somehow balancing his weight on his good arm. He leaned closer to me so that his face was centimeters from my own, making me feel lightheaded and warm.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered, his breath ghosting across my face and making me shiver. I was not beautiful, I was dirty, sweaty, covered in bruises and blood, my hair was tangled and bushy, and I hadn't bathed in a very long time.

"I-I-" I stuttered, unable to make my thoughts coherent. He smiled, his eyes brightening a slight bit as I tried to speak. He titled his head slightly and moved even closer, and then stopped, letting me decide. I didn't even take a second. I leaned forward the last centimeter and tentatively touched his lips with my own. I moved slowly, unsure, while he moved confidently against me. After a moment his tongue swept against my lips, silently asking for entrance which I immediately granted. I raised my arms and locked them around his neck, pressing his face closer to mine as our lips began to move fervently against each other. We broke the kiss a moment later, unable to hold our breaths any longer. He rested his forehead against mine, letting out a satisfied sigh as he gently rubbed his noise against mine.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while." He said quietly, his eyes still closed. "Mione, thank you for everything. We couldn't, I couldn't, have escaped without you." I smiled softly and raised my hand to his face, gently cupping his cheek in it.

"Don't, Fred, it was your plan, I just executed it." I took another breath and pulled back from him reluctantly. "Come on, let's get to bed, we both could use our rest." A wry grin lifted his lips up and he nodded his head. He sat back on his legs and I grabbed the blankets back up. "Here, put this on and then lie down." I instructed him. He nodded his head, pulling the sweater on and laying down. He grinned when I draped the soft woolen blanket over his shoulders. I pulled my shirt back on, and then the sweater on top of it before I laid down next to him, scooting closer and snuggling into his arm before draping the other blanket over us. It was still cold, but much warmer than it had been. I wrapped my arm around his waist, snuggling my head into his shoulder.

"Fred?" I whispered, looking up at him.

"Yes?" He whispered back, leaning his head up and looking down at me.

"What did he do too you? You're covered in knife wounds."

"Oh," He said, leaning his head back down and sighing. "He took me to the cabin you described. It was dark, worse than our dungeon. He told me he was going to ra- hurt you, and I tried to hit him. He came at me with a knife, I couldn't see, but I did manage to hit him. He ended up just using Crucio on me." I pushed myself up and looked him in the eyes, tears filling mine.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, staring at his swollen eye and cut neck, I traced his cheek gently, my tears falling onto his chest.

"Shh," He whispered, wiping my cheek with his good arm. "Don't cry, it wasn't that bad. I only got attacked once; you had to endure it every other day." He tugged my shoulder, gently pulling me back down onto his chest. "Go to sleep Hermione, we're both safe. We don't have to worry about that bastard anymore." He tightened his grip around my shoulders, gently running his hand up and down my arm. Feeling warmer and secure I closed my eyes, letting myself get lost in my dreams of warm blue eyes and tender kisses.

{}{}{}

"Wake up, Hermione." Fred's voice whispered against my ear, his breath ghosting over my cheek and causing me to shiver delightfully. I opened my eyes and looked up, seeing Fred stare down at me with bright, alert eyes. His ginger hair was falling into his eyes and he flipped it aside with a jerk of his head. His left eye was still painfully swollen, but it didn't look like it was bothering him as much as it had been.

"Morning." I said happily, stretching as I sat up. I turned towards Fred and smiled at him over my shoulder. He was wide awake, and smiling the trademark Weasley Twin smirk. He had a leaf stuck in his hair and I had the urge to brush it out with my finger, so I did. I leaned over, supporting my weight with my arm, and ran my fingers through his hair, grabbing the leaf and freeing it from his ginger locks. I pulled it out and showed it to him, smiling when he shook his head.

"So, what's say I get us some breakfast and then we head out?" I asked, pushing myself up. Fred looked up at me for a moment and then nodded his head. I turned around and headed deeper into the woods, keeping my eyes open for anything edible. I was flashing back to the horcrux hunt with Harry and Ron, hopefully I'd have better luck than I did then. Food was nearly impossible to come by in those woods, and I wasn't terribly hopeful now. At least we had the advantage of being able to see magical plants, maybe I'd come across something of that nature.

I'd no sooner had the thought than I saw a gurdyroot growing up in a tangle of tree roots. I stared at it for a moment slightly disgusted but we didn't really have much choice. We were stranded in the middle of who knew where without much prospective for a real meal. The root would have to do. I snatched the vegetable up and turned around to head back to Fred. I stopped once more along the way and picked up two sturdy sticks, goodness knows we'd need them if we wanted to go anywhere today.

By the time I got back to our little makeshift camp site Fred had already packed up the camp and gotten our water bottles out. He handed me one of the blankets and I handed him half of the Gurdyroot.

"Cheers." I said grinning as I bit the bitter vegetable. Fred took a timid bite, frowned, shrugged, and then took a larger bite.

"Better than I thought it'd be." He said, smiling. I finished up my half and then tied the blanket around my shoulders in a make shift cape. It was the only sort of coat/cloak we had, and we'd need to try and stay warm in this awful weather. It was getting colder by the minute. Fred finished up his root and then slung the duffle bag over his shoulder before picking up his stick and turning towards me.

"Shall we?" He asked, bowing and extending his hand. I smiled and nodded my head before picking up my own stick and heading deeper into the forest with Fred.

_A/N: Just a quick reminder, neither of them have wands, so they are going to have to get back to the others the muggle way._


	7. Chapter 7

My body complained with every step, screaming for me to sit down and find some water to take a hot, _long_ bath in. I would have loved nothing more than to comply to its request, unfortunately, we were fresh out of chairs and warm water.

"Can you read Muggle maps?" Fred asked me after we had been walking for about ten minutes. I nodded my head and took the map out of his hands. I opened it up and studied it for a moment, smiling in appreciation when I saw a little red circle marked 'you started here.' That muggle had really taken care of us. She'd gone out of her way to help us and it would probably be thing that would save us.

"Okay," I said, reading the map. "According to this, we're right outside of Northampton." I looked up from the map and caught Fred's wide, surprised eyes. "Roughly sixty miles from London."

"With no means of apparating." Fred said darkly, glaring at the map like it was its fault we had to travel so far.

"Well, on the bright side, at least we know where we are." Fred raised his eyebrow at my comment and shook his head, a slight grin lifting his lip. I'll admit, it wasn't much of a bright side, especially since we were so injured.

"Yeah, right." He said, walking again. I was right beside him. We traveled quietly for a while, picking our way through the trees and foliage. The sticks were of immense help, it was so nice to be able to lean on something.

"Okay, I'm not going to be able to handle it being so quiet." Fred said tensely, breaking the silence. "We're going to have to think of something to talk about. I don't care if we recite poetry or play a game, I just need something."

"Well, since I've already told you all the poems I know, and I doubt you know any I haven't already read, how about we play a game?" I asked, stepping over a tree root carefully.

"Great," Fred said in relief. "Whatcha wanna play?"

"No idea, I'll let you decide." I replied.

"Okay, how about truth or dare?" He asked, holding a branch back for me. I ducked under it gratefully, chuckling at his suggestion.

"What'll we dare each other? We're in the middle of the forest."

"Future dares, for when we return to civilization." He replied, smiling easily and looking like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Okay, truth or dare it is. You can go first since it was your suggestion." I said.

"Great," Fred, said, an evil grin forming on his handsome face. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Was my instant reply.

"Figured," he said, smirking . I stuck my tongue out at him. "First crush?"

A blush lit up my cheeks and I lowered my eyes before mumbling the answer. "Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Excuse me?" Fred asked, his voice practically bubbling with mirth. "Did you just say Gilderoy?"

"Yes." I said irritably. "He was extremely handsome and seemed like he was brilliant. Obviously I know now he wasn't. Still, to a twelve year old girl he was incredible. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Really? Okay, what habit of George's do you find most annoying?" I asked on a whim. His eyebrows raised and he looked impressed.

"Toughie…" He mumbled, scrunching his face up in thought. "His nails, he's always clicking them together when he's bored." He said after a moment, a faint grin lighting his lips before fading. He looked sad and wistful. "Man I miss him. We haven't been apart this long since before I can remember."

"Good thing we're headed back to them then, isn't it." I said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. He smiled gratefully before questioning me.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Favorite song?"

"Used to be I want to hold your hand by the Beatles, but it's changed to O Children by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds." I answered instantly. I continued, explaining why when he tilted his head curiously. "I first heard it during the Horcrux hunt. Harry made me dance with him during it, and anytime he hears it on now, he always asks me to dance. He has no idea how much he cheered me up with that." I said, speaking quietly at the end. I missed Harry terribly; he was my best friend, sort of like my George.

"Truth or dare?" I asked, regaining my thoughts and going back to the game.

"Dare." Fred said with an evil grin.

"You have to prank your mum while she's making dinner for company." I said quickly, and evil grin lifting my lips.

"Wow, that was cold and quick." He said, his eyebrows rising with surprise. "Okay, I accept the dare and the challenge. It'll be fun. I hardly ever get a chance to run for my life. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay, um, Charms or Transfiguration?"

"Transfiguration. I love it, and it's crazy useful. Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"First prank?"

A huge smile lifted his lips and he let out a loud laugh. "We pranked Percy. George and I put a gnome in his drawer. I think we were one and a half."

"Wow!" I laughed, I'd known they'd always been trouble makers but I'd never have thought they'd have started so young.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare." I said bravely. He grinned wickedly and glanced at me over his shoulder. "You have to go skinny dipping at the lake behind the Burrow." He stopped and turned towards me.

"Wh-what? " I spluttered, turning bright red and stopping dead in my track. He let out a loud laugh and practically glowed with excitement. "Skinny dipping at the Burrow?" I squeaked, gaping at him.

"Yep." Fred said, stepping closer to me and smiling devilishly. He let his eyes trail down my body and back up before looking me in the eyes. I was redder than the crimson of Gryffindor by now. "And I can't wait till we get back."

"Fine," I spluttered, taken aback and oddly flattered. I was embarrassed beyond belief at the idea of jumping naked into the Burrows lake, but the fact that Fred wanted to see me jump into the Burrow lake naked was thrilling. I wasn't extremely pretty, at least not by his usual taste. I was short and curvy, he usually dated tall athletic girls.

"Truth or dare?" I whispered, having trouble thinking with him so close.

"Truth." He answered, stepping even closer to me. I swallowed nervously before asking my next question, it was decidedly more personal, but I was curious and worried. However, having him so close to me made me almost consider not asking it.

"Did you like the kiss?" I whispered, so quietly I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't hear it. He stopped leaning nearer me and straightened up, a surprised look on his handsome face. His eyes were wide and he looked alarmed.

"Yes, did you not?" I smiled happily in utter relief and stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck gently so that I didn't hurt his cut.

"Oh, I enjoyed it. Quite a lot actually." His face relaxed and he gave me a wide cocky grin that I hadn't seen since we were kidnapped as his eyes shot to my lips hungrily.

"Would you mind a repeat?" He asked, his voice deeper and huskier than it had been. I shook my head, leaning closer to him. He tilted his head and closed the distance between our faces, claiming my lips in a searing kiss. He brought his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his warm body and I pressed myself against him, losing myself in the feel of his body and lips. I'd had kisses before, quite a few actually, but none of them even compared to Fred, he was knee meltingly good at snogging.

We broke apart a minute later, gasping for breath and clinging onto one another. I hated being so weak, it was terrible. He brought his hand up to my cheek, and wrapped his other around my waist, pulling me flush against him.

"Hermione," He murmured, nuzzling his noise in my curls. "I really like you, a lot." He said, pulling back a slight bit and whispering in my ear. "I'd like to date you, and not just while we're out here. I've loved getting to know you better, and I don't want that to change when we get back to the others."

"I don't either." I breathed, shivering at the feel of his breath on my neck. "I like you a lot too, and I'd love to date you." He leaned back, looking me in the eyes and smiling softly.

"Then the day after we get back, we have a date."

"Sounds great." I whispered back, holding his hand. "Where should we go?" I asked as we turned back and stated walking again. He didn't let go of my hand, he tucked his stick under his arm so we could keep holding each other's hand.

"I don't know, somewhere with technology, warm food, and butterbeer."

"Sounds good, what's the first thing you're doing once you get back to London?" I asked, swinging our hands as we walked.

"I am taking a long hot shower, and then I'm eating a gallon of ice cream. What about you?"

"Definitely grooving on the shower, but I think I'd rather have a cup of hot cocoa. Ooh, and a good book."

"You know, we won't get too do either of those for probably a week." He said nonchalantly as we ducked under a low hanging tree limb.

"Why?"

"We're going to be surrounded by Weasley's." He said simply. "We'll be lucky to see the light of day." I laughed at that, picturing a wall of red-heads and one raven following us everywhere we went. Merlin, I missed them all so much.

"Well, at least we'll have each other."

"And magic, Merlin, we'll have magic again!"

"Wands!" I gasped, fighting the urge to jump. "We can heal ourselves, god, that will be so nice."

"Yeah, I'm changing my earlier comment, that's the first thing I'll be doing." Fred said, a huge grin lighting his face.

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We kept walking all day, stopping for breaks and to eat. We walked about fourteen miles, which really impressed me with how injured we both were. We finally decided to stop for the night in a little clearing by a creek. I refilled our water bottles while Fred caught some fish. We started a small fire, thanking god that we knew how to do it the muggle way. It was quite good, better than what we'd had on the Horcrux hunt, or maybe it was just that I was happier.

"Okay, this is the perfect time for a bath." Fred said, pushing himself up from where he had been lying in front of a log. "We have a creek, and a fire. What's say we have a quick bath and wash our clothes? It's warmer tonight than it was last night." I stared at him for a moment, thinking about his suggestion. A bath sounded wonderful and clean clothes delightful, but I was nervous about bathing in front of, or near Fred. The bath won out in the end, I needed to be clean.

Fred went first, claiming he'd make sure it was safe. I tended to the fire and washed the clothes off while he bathed up the creek. We'd use the blankets to keep ourselves covered and warm while we waited for our clothes to dry by the fire. I hung them up on a branch above the fire to dry. I draped my blanket around my shoulders, holding it close and making sure I wasn't showing any skin.

"Mione?" I looked up from the fire I'd been poking with a stick and had to stop myself from staring. He only had the towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes traveled down his toned chest and I had to fight back an appreciative sigh. "Mione?" He said again, trying not to laugh. I blushed and stood, wrapping my blanket around my body more tightly. I nearly ran to the lake, tripping on my stupid ankle in my attempt to get away. I dipped into the water, gasping at how cold it was before rubbing myself clean. I washed my hair out and nearly cried with relief, it was so nice to have clean hair again. I grabbed my blanket back and wrapped it around my body tightly, shivering in the night air. Hopefully those clothes would be dry soon. In the mean time, I'd just keep myself warm by snuggling close to Fred.

I rather liked the idea.

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, about the whole apparition thing, I'm not actually sure if you can do it wandless... but for the purpose of this story we're going to pretend they don't :o)_


	8. Chapter 8

I walked back to the camp quickly, avoiding as many twigs as I could. I still came back with sore feet though. This time it was my turn to surprise Fred. He was sitting on a log facing the fire, his back to me. "Fred?" I whispered in the dark, stepping closer to the camp site. He started before turning towards me. I could barely make out his face, but I could tell one thing for sure, his jaw had fallen open. A blush lit my cheeks and I lowered my eyes before moving to sit next to him by the fire.

"Merlin Hermione, how'd you ever manage to hide that body in your robes? You're beautiful." He whispered, wrapping his arm around me and scooting closer. I shivered against him, and not from the cold. He grabbed our third blanket off his lap and wrapped it around our shoulders.

"Thanks Fred, but I'm not that pretty. You don't have to feel obliged to tell me that I'm pretty." I really wasn't, especially not now, Merlin not now.

"Have you looked at yourself?" he asked, his eyes widening in shock. "God 'Mione, you're gorgeous." The way he said, it so earnestly and heartfelt made me want to believe him. I didn't have a bad figure, I was actually rather curvy, but my face was rather plain. I wasn't as stunning as Ginny, or Luna, or Verity. With the bruises and cuts I was extremely plain and borderline scary.

He placed a hand on my cheek, tracing my jaw line gently with his fingers. I turned my eyes back to him, turning away from the fire and facing him. He leaned closer to me, staring into my eyes with his sapphire ones. His finger moved from my jaw to my still damp hair, burying his hand in my curls. I leaned forward, my eyes closing as he pressed his lip against mine. I brought my hands up his bare back, earning myself a faint moan as I lightly dragged my nails up his back. His hands traveled up and down my sides before settling on my lower waist. We broke the kiss, breathing deeply before kissing again.

I pressed as closely against him as I could, wanting to lose myself in his hold. I didn't care that I was only wearing a blanket, or that I was in the middle of some forest. I only cared about getting closer to Fred. I'd never felt this way about someone, this strong a need to be near someone. I had liked Ron, well, I had thought I like Ron, but we'd decided to just be friends. I hadn't dated since we broke up last year, I'd not had the time. I was extremely glad now that I was single, I wanted nothing more than to date him. I'd have never predicted it, but I had fallen for the crazy prankster.

He moved his lips from my mouth, I was having trouble breathing because of my ribs. He moved to my neck, kissing, licking, and nipping the skin there, causing me to gasp and throw my head back. So he could have better access. My hands found their way to his hair, tangling themselves in the shaggy, damp locks. I tugged his hair, bringing his mouth back up to my own and kissing him hard. His hand moved back up my body, traveling lightly against my chest. But not lightly enough, I hissed in pain as he brushed against my ribs, and he pulled back sharply, looking thoroughly alarmed.

"I'm so sorry!" He gasped. I shook my head, leaning into him and trying to regain my breath. That was the first thing I was curing when I got a wand, or someone with a wand. I was going to get my breath back.

"Don't be," I breathed out, "I'm not." I leaned back, staring into his eyes and smiling shyly. "I guess the clothes are probably dry by now." He nodded his head slowly.

"I'll go first." He said. He grabbed his clothes off the branch and walked behind some bushes. I could still see him, chest up, and I couldn't move my eyes off of him. He pulled his sweater on, pulling it down and blocking his beautiful chest from my view. I managed to avert my eyes a moment before he turned back to me.

"Your turn, Hermione." He called, stepping back towards the fire. I stood, holding my blanket in place and grabbing my clothes. I stepped back to the same place that he had changed and dropped my towel. I bent down and pulled my underwear on and then my jeans before straightening back up. I heard a noise behind me and almost froze. Fred could see me, I had forgotten that. A blush lit my cheeks and I was instantly grateful that he couldn't see my face. I reached over and grabbed my t-shirt, pulling it over my head before putting my sweater on too. I turned back around, picking my way through the foliage and back to Fred. He'd already laid the blanket down and put out the fire.

I lay down by him, on my side so I could face him. He was laying on his side, propping himself up with his arm so he could look at me. His broken arm was lying over his chest, and the sight of it made my heart clench.

"Ready for bed?" He asked quietly before wrinkling his brow in worry. "Hermione, what's wrong?" I shook my head, willing those blasted tears to leave my eyes.

"No-nothing, Fred, honest." He stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

"Okay, I'll accept that for now. Come on, we need to go to bed." He said as he lay down on his back. I moved to my spot by his side and pulled the blankets up around our bodies.

I once again fell asleep warm and secure.

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"So, favorite poems?" He asked as we walked along the ditch. We'd had to leave the cover of the forest this morning, I needed to figure out where we were actually at. We decided to travel along the side of the road instead of actually on it. We didn't want anyone recognizing our descriptions and trying to arrest us. Instead of continuing our truth or dare game from yesterday he'd decided to try something of his own invention. We'd ask each other what one our favorite things were, but it had to be alphabetical order. I had just asked him what his favorite Order mission had been, so it was his turn now with P.

"Poem huh?" I asked, stumbling a bit before righting myself with Fred's help. "Lord Byron's 'She walks in Beauty.' I thinks it's beautiful and hauntingly elegant." Plus, it was one of the only ones I remembered all of. I took a breath and realized I had Q. Quidditch was the obvious question, but I wanted something more fun. "My turn now, what is your favorite quality in a girl?" I asked slyly, smiling and keeping my eyes firmly locked ahead.

"Quality?" he asked. He gave a little, thoughtful 'hmm' before answering. "A sense of humor or common sense. I can't stand it when a girl acts stupid to impress a bloke, or laughs at all his jokes, even when they're not funny. I want someone who will laugh when it is funny, but not when I'm not."

"Really? Neat, I thought it would have been something different." I said mysteriously. I honestly thought it would be some body part.

"See, I'm full of surprises. What was your favorite reason people would give for being out late in Gryffindor?" That caused a smile to light up my face. I'd heard hundreds of excuses while I was at Hogwarts, and almost all of them were funny.

"This crazy red-head once told me that he had been letting every single owl out of the owlery." I explained, keeping my face deadpan. "I'd laughed it off, thinking he was joking. I woke up the next day to find every single owl from the owlery in the Gryffindor common room. I still have no idea how he did it."

Fred let out a loud laugh, care free and bright. His head fell back a little and his eye clenched as he laughed even harder. We stopped walking and both started laughing, I couldn't stop, even though it hurt to laugh with my ribs.

"Really? That was your favorite?" He asked, finally regaining his voice. I nodded my head, beaming at his excitement. "I never knew you liked that, you were ticked the next morning."

"Well of course I was. I was a prefect, I couldn't act like I loved your prank. I had to pretend I was furious."

"Wow, who knew, all this time Hermione Granger liked my pranks."

"That one was great. How did you get all those birds in there under my nose?" I asked, trying not to smile too much. He grinned even wider.

"Nu-uh. I'm not telling. That was one of my favorite pranks. Who knows, I might need to use it again someday." I rolled my eyes and gave him a gentle shove on the shoulder.

"Meanie! Fine, but I'll figure out how one of these days. What's your favorite Season?"

"Fall." He said quickly. "I love how everything gets so colorful. Not just green, white, and pink, like spring, but yellow, red, and orange." He explained animatedly. "What's your favorite time of day?"

"Early morning." I answered with a smile. "No one else I know really like to get up early. Ron and Harry always sleep till noon, and Ginny's right with them. Remember all those summers at the Burrow?" I asked reminiscently. He nodded his head with a smile. "We were always the only ones up. You and George would go out for a fly and I'd be reading my book under that tree."

"God I miss those days." He said quietly.

"You mean you don't like walking along an endless road with a stick?" I asked in mock shock.

"No, this is a blast." He said, laughing.

"Okay, umm… Favorite use for Unicorn hair?" I asked, trying to think of some U. Fred grinned and looked at me.

"Have trouble with that one, did you?"

"A little." I admitted, giggling at how silly it was.

"Well, at the moment it would be their ability to bind wounds. We could use a few kilometers of it." He finished wryly, looking at his arm in annoyance. "Okay, my turn. Favorite vegetable."

"Vegetable?" I asked, thinking for a moment. "Mushrooms, I love mushrooms, though it's not really a vegetable."

"I'll take it though."

"Favorite Weather?" I asked before I heard something coming along the road. I turned towards Fred with wide eyes, stopping him with my hand.

"What?" He asked before stopping, he heard the engine too.

"Oh god." I gasped, stepping away from the road. Fred was right beside me, his eyes wide and worried. We stumbled away from the road heading towards the woods again. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to leave them in the first place. At least I knew where we were now. We dived for the cover of the woods, tripping into the trees. I looked back over my shoulder just in time to see a police car race by. Merlin, that was far too close.

"Rain, it's my favorite." Fred said suddenly, breaking the shocked silence. I turned towards him and stared for a minute before I realized he was continuing our conversation from earlier. I giggled, immensely happy to have him with me.

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"I'll do the dishes." Fred said as we finished our fish. I laughed again, I'd been doing a lot of that recently. We'd managed to walk another fifteen miles today. We only had twenty six left till we reached London, twenty eight until we reached Diagon Alley. This observation, plus the fact that we'd had fish for supper had put us both in a very good mood. He grabbed the stick I had cooked, and eaten my fish on and threw it into the fire. "See, all done!" He said, standing up and wiping his hand off on his jeans. I laughed as I wiped my own hands off, shaking my head as he grinned.

"Okay." He said looking down at me with his signature smile. "It's time for your after dinner entertainment." He offered me his hand, which I took. He pulled me up while I questioned him.

"My after dinner entertainment?"

"Yes." He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer to his body. He started to hum an extremely familiar tune. 'I want to hold your hand' by the Beetles. I smiled, more happy than I'd been in a while and danced with him, stepping to the beat and ignoring my foot. He spun me in a silly dance as he started to sing the words. I joined him, and we butchered the song together, laughing and holding each other close.

_A/N: Thank you Bellaroe for finding out about the Apparation question. You can't apparate without a wand, so my story is safe! Yippee! By the way, thanks for all the reviews, I'm having a lot of fun with this story._


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, I am officially tired of walking." Fred announced as we trudged along the road. We'd decided to risk the open again, we had to keep track of where we were going, and it was so much easier to walk on than the forest ground. Plus, it was getting dark and the woods got creepy at night.

"You are just now tired?" I asked, looking over at him with a big smile. He nodded his head, keeping his face dead pan.

"Yes, it has officially gotten boring." He said, sounding like he had just announced the answer to some long standing puzzle.

"What were you before if not bored?"

"Mildly interested." He answered, flashing me a quick smile. His eye, though still bruised, looked loads better and he was able to see out of it now. I had decided we were going to do a check up tonight, we'd see how well we were healing and try to clean out all of our wounds.

"So what changed?" I asked, having fun with this pointless conversation. It was amazing how he could do that, make the most trivial, pointless thing fun. Maybe it was just that I was actually letting myself have fun around him now. Maybe it was because I finally admitted that I liked him and knew he liked me. Maybe it was just because I'd only had his company for the last two months so I was going crazy. No matter what it was, I was enjoying laughing so much. Though, I was also tired of the endless walking.

"The conversation lulled." Was his quick reply. I laughed at that, letting out a loud, embarrassing snort that just made him beam all the more. His smile was contagious and I found myself smiling just as happily.

"Well, we fixed that, so is it interesting again?" I questioned back. He nodded his head, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Much." We walked in silence for a moment and Fred let out an annoyed sigh. "It's lulling again."

"It is isn't it?" I said, fighting back a smile. My ribs were making it impossible to breath, my foot was swollen ,and my arm was practically on fire, and I was still having to fight not to just keep laughing.

"So, what game are we playing now?" He asked expectantly. I shook my head and put on a look of mock annoyance.

"Oh no you don't. I picked the game last time, it's now your turn." I was honestly getting bored of games too, I'd have rather just talked to him. I was having a lot of fun talking, he was really smart and quick witted. It helped that he was extremely easy on the eyes as well, and he was kind.

"I can't think of anything we haven't played though."

"Then we can just replay a game." I said, rolling my eyes good naturedly.

"But that'll be boring."

"Not necessarily."

"But it could be."

"Possibly, but there's something else we could do." I said, stopping and turning towards him. He stopped walking as well and turned to face me. His ginger hair fell into his eyes and he tilted his head curiously at me.

"What?"

"Call it quits for the night. We've walked nineteen miles and my foot is killing me." I admitted, blushing a little and lowering my eyes in embarrassment. I hated to sound weak, he was covered in cuts and hadn't complained at all. I couldn't walk much further though, my foot was hurting so much that I wasn't going to be able to put any weight on it soon.

"Really?" He asked, his eyes going wide and a worried look coming over his face. "Why didn't you say anything? We could have stopped earlier."

"It's not that bad, I'm fine. I just don't want to walk for another seven or eight miles." I said, fidgeting with my hands uncomfortably.

"Come on, we can camp over in those woods. " Fred said, pulling my arm and tugging me towards the forest.

We set up the camp and started a small fire before sitting down and eating a light supper of trout, again. We finished the meal quickly, and then I heated some water up before turning towards Fred. "This is going to sound weird," I said, biting my lip. "But I need you to take your shirt off."

"Will you take yours off?"He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I giggled nervously, blushing and biting my lip.

"Yes, but not for the reasons you're thinking of." I said.

"I'm just yanking your wand, I know what you meant." He said, pulling his shirt off and tilting so that I could see his stitches. I leaned in, examining the wound and how well it was healing. I straighten back up before grabbing his arm gently. I undid the binding, examining how it was healing. Satisfied with both his chest and his arms healing I moved to his neck. It was healing well also, but I didn't pull away from it. I moved closer to him, and breathed over him lightly. He moaned lightly, throwing his neck back so that I could have better access. I smiled softly and scooted even closer before ghosting my lips over him. He moaned, his hands gripping the log we were sitting on. I pressed my lips against his neck a little harder, avoiding his cut. His hand moved from the log to my face, his fingers cupping my cheek and pulling my lips to his. He kissed me hard, his hand trailing down my neck, shoulder, and then arm before settling on my hip. He tugged me closer to him, pulling me so that I was nearly on his lap. He deepened the kiss, moving against me hard and passionately. I returned the kiss with just as much passion and need.

I couldn't breathe, but I didn't break the kiss, didn't want to. I was losing myself in it, losing myself to Fred. I had fallen hard for him, and I couldn't stop myself. I was falling in love with the prankster, and I didn't want to stop. He'd been my only companion for two months, and I'd realized in that short period of time that I had always like Fred. That was why I always had so much fun going at it with him when we were in school, why I had been so glad he wasn't hurt during the battle of Hogwarts, why I was always annoyed at his flirting with other women.

I was sure he didn't, couldn't feel the same way though. It was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes, but I pushed them away. I'd enjoy this wonderful feeling while I could, I'd be near him while I could.

But right now, I had to breathe. I pulled back from his lips, taking deep breaths, gulping down air as he moved his mouth from my lips to my neck, kissing and nipping the skin there. I moaned at the feel and arched into him, craning my neck back and closing my eyes as he continued to pepper kisses down my neck. His hand started to wander, making its way up my back before moving to my chest. I started to make more noises as he teased my body, and my stomach was flooded with wonderful warmth.

"Merlin!" I gasped as he pressed a kiss to an especially sensitive spot on my clavicle. He grinned wickedly against my neck and pulled back, looking at me with dark, heated eyes that made my stomach even warmer. I reached out and grabbed him, pulling his face back to my lips and reclaiming his. I deepened the kiss eagerly, battling for dominance with him. I pressed my body flush against his, losing myself in the feel of him against me.

He was the one to break it this time, pulling back and breathing heavily before leaning his head against mine as we both tried to regain our breath and slow our racing hearts.

"Gods, I can't wait to be healed." He gasped out, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply through his mouth. "I can't wait to be able to kiss you and not have to stop because we can't breathe."

"Me either," I said softly, closing my eyes and savoring his nearness.

"Come on, let's go ahead to bed so we can wake up quicker and get home faster." Fred whispered, holding me close and breathing more evenly. I nodded my head, leaning back and opening my eyes so that I could look at him more clearly. I wanted to fall asleep watching him.

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I woke up in the middle of the night and let out a choking cry, I couldn't breathe, I was suffocating and terrified. I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming, but it had scared me very much. I was gasping now, struggling in vain to breath. Fred woke up beside me, looking around wildly before his eyes settled on me. I was coughing and gasping, trying vainly to breath.

"What's wrong?" He stuttered, sitting up and moving so he was sitting in front of me.

"Can't breathe!" I gasped out, throwing my head back and trying to gulp in air. He moved immediately, tugging my shirt up and laying his head flat against my chest, listening to my lungs. I let out a pained whimper, fighting the urge to push him away from my bruised ribs.

"Take shallower breaths, you need to take shallower breaths." He ordered, pulling back from my chest and grabbing my face gently in his warm hand. I was panicking, my lungs were on fire and he wanted me to take shallow breaths? I'd suffocate! I needed air, more air than a shallow breath would get me.

"Trust me!" He exclaimed, gripping me tighter and forcing me to look in his vivid eyes. "Take shallow breaths!" My heart hammered wildly against my chest and my lungs were positively burning, I forced myself to calm down and took a small, shallow breath. It didn't hurt, so I took another one, and then another. He dropped his hand from my face once I started to breathe shallowly and moved his hand back to my rib, feeling it gently before moving back to my cheek.

"You feel that?" he whispered, moving his hand gently against my cheek. "You're getting your breath back, you're doing it." I nodded my head softly, struggling a bit not to take a deep breath.

"Don't worry, I'm right here, I'm not leaving. You're just fine, you're lungs are okay. Just keep taking shallow breaths." He whispered softly, rubbing his thumb against my cheek. I focused on his eyes, taking shallow breaths while I stared at them, forcing myself to remain calm. My breathing began to get even again, and my lungs stopped burning so bad. The mind bending panic started to dissipate and I felt myself finally start to relax.

Fred moved from in front of me to my side, gentle pulling me back so that I was leaning against his chest before wrapping the blanket back around us. He murmured into my ear, comforting me as he gently rubbed my arm with his good hand.

"Sorry," I whispered, so thankful to have my breath back and slightly horrified by how badly I had just panicked.

"It's okay 'Mione, I know how terrible it is to have a broken rib and wake up unable to breathe." He said softly, still rubbing my arm.

"How?" I questioned, my eyes heavy and my body relaxing in to him. If he had ever broken a rib then he could have just mended it with magic. It didn't make any sense to think he had broken it and left it that way to heal naturally. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have let him.

"Potterwatch," he whispered back. "We got attacked by Death Eaters and I took a hit to the chest. Lee and George had no idea how to heal it, so we just bound it up as best we could." He explained, moving his hand from my arm to my chest, gently pulling me closer to him. I allowed myself to be spooned, snuggling back into Fred and closing my eyes as I listened to him talk.

"That's how you knew how to bind my ribs." I murmured, fighting to stay awake. I had wondered how he had known just what to do.

"Yes," He whispered, brushing my hair back from my face before lowering his head. "Go back to sleep, Hermione. I'll keep you safe." I didn't get a chance to respond, I was already fast asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

"Wake up Freddie!" I giggled out, excitement swelling up within me. I had woken up early this morning and realized we only had nine more miles until we reached Diagon Alley, nine miles until we were home free!

"Huh?" He murmured, rolling over on his side, still fast asleep. A smile lifted my lips and I decided to try a new method of waking him up. I leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before running my fingers through his hair. I scooted closer to him and started to kiss my way down his jaw line.

"Hermione?" He questioned, moaning as I moved to his neck. A bigger grin lifted my lips and I kissed my way back up before claiming his lips with mine again. He kissed me back, bringing his arm up around me and tugging my hips down on top of his. I deepened the kiss and moved one of my hands to his shirt, fisting it tightly. He moaned again, moving his hand up and down my back and sending shivers through me. Merlin I loved this man.

I did, I really did love him. I couldn't even bring myself to worry about that fact as I kissed him hard. I'd already dived into that decision, there was no turning back. Come whatever, I had fallen in love with Fred Weasley, and every minute was bringing us closer to splitting up. I gave myself a mental shake and pulled back from his wonderful lips regretfully.

"We have to get going, we're only nine miles out!" I exclaimed excitedly, pushing myself up from his chest. His lips were swollen and darker from our intense snogging and his eyes were wide and dark. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at him and I wanted nothing more than to reclaim his lips with mine. Walking, we had to get walking.

I found myself leaning back towards him, but then my eyes fell on the cut across his neck. I froze as I looked at it before pushing myself up and pulling him with me. I was getting him back to the others, back to magic so we could heal him.

"Nine miles?" he asked, his voice slightly gruff from sleep.

"I know!" I exclaimed, bending down and scooping up all our blankets. I shoved them in our bag and turned back to him. "Come on, let's get going."

"Eager, aren't we." He said, raising his eyebrow at me as he stretched.

"I want to be healed, and I really, _really_ want to shower." I said, winking at him.

"Sure, you just want to get back to your books. I know the truth." He said, a smile lifting his lips.

"Ooh, I forgot, I can read again!" I exclaimed, smiling even wider.

"Don't forget your hot chocolate as well." He said, grabbing the bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "Let's go, I want that ice cream."

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We walked for about a mile, chatting excitedly and holding hands. The woods had disappeared so we were having to walk along the road.

"What do you think they'll do when they see us again?" Fred asked out of the blue.

"Well," I said slowly, trying not to think about the fact that everything would change between us. I was excited to get back in the city and back to my friends, but I didn't want to lose my closeness with Fred. I had really fallen hard for him. "I think they'll freak." I finished honestly.

"We'll probably have to be debriefed by Harry." He said casually. He looked behind us for a moment before looking back at the front. "I wonder if they even have a clue about what happened."

"That's right, I wonder if they even know we're still alive." I mused, considering that possibility for the first time. Fred glanced behind us again with a worried frown.

"What?" I questioned anxiously, glancing behind us as well.

"I heard something."

"What?"

"It sounded like someone was driving towards us."

"No one is there though."

"I can see that, but someone was." He replied, frowning even more. I was about to ask if he wanted to go walk in the ditch when I heard the distinct rumble of a car coming our way. I turned my head towards Fred and looked at him in horror. His eyes had grown wide and he was standing beside me rigidly.

A distinct, white, yellow, and blue car pulled up the hill behind us, and my mouth dropped open in shock. It was a police car, and they had spotted us. I grabbed Fred's hand in my own before taking a deep breath and pulling him towards the ditch. We both turned and raced for the houses that lined the road, praying that we could lose ourselves in there cover. The police car raced down the road after us, it sirens turning on. We raced behind a house, stumbling in the shrubbery surrounding it before breaking free and running through the back yard. The house next to this one had a laundry line out with a broom leaning against it. a wild, crazy, risky idea occurred to me and I pulled to a stop next to it. Fred, still holding my hand, was pulled to a stop next to me and turned towards me with wide eyes.

"What?" he whispered as I grabbed the broom.

"Concentrate on making this fly." I whispered back, holding the broom in my hand and praying that this would work. If we both concentrated really hard we might be able to make it work with wandless magic. Neither of us could do it by ourselves, but we could still control magic. Even without our wands, we were capable of magic. Wands just allowed us to focus and control the magic better. If we could concentrate hard enough we might be able to make it work.

"What? Okay." He said, grabbing hold of the broom and closing his eyes. I did the same, focusing on the magic I knew I possessed, and the item in my hands. I willed it to fly, thinking of the levitating spell brooms needed in my head.

"Hermione!" Fred exclaimed next to me. I opened my eyes and looked down, the broom was floating on its own. I let out an excited squeal before I felt Fred grab hold of me and pull me up onto the broom. My body tensed up and panic started to fill me.

What had I been thinking? I _hated_ flying. I hated it with a serious passion.

Fred climbed on behind me, gripping me firmly around the waist before kicking up off the ground. We flew up into the air, hundreds of meters up, and I began to feel light headed as I saw the ground disappear beneath me. My arms locked into place on the broom and I started hyperventilating.

"Calm down Hermione, you're okay." Fred said in my ear, holding me tight with his broken arm and steering the broom with his good arm. "I won't let you fall. Unlike Harry or Ron, I've never fallen from a broom." A faint grin threatened to lift my lips, despite how scared I was.

"Tell me the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration." Fred said, giving me a gentle push in the back. I answered automatically, my years of answering questions coming back full force. It took my mind off the fact that we were so high up for a moment and I found myself relaxing an infinitesimal amount.

The moment I finished speaking Fred fired off another question. "What's the difference between the following potions: a brew, a concoction, a draught, an elixir, a philter, a poison, and a tincture?" I answered that, and before I had a chance to panic again Fred fired off another question. He kept questioning me until I forgot that I was flying, thinking only of the questions and his gentle hold on me.

"Hermione!" He exclaimed suddenly, his voice high and excited. I stopped my dissertation on the Goblin war of 415 and turned towards him.

"What?"

"Look down, it's Diagon Alley!"

"What!" I exclaimed, feeling light headed and excited suddenly. I didn't even notice how high up we were.

"I'm landing by the cauldron. We can floo to the Burrow from there." He yelled, trying to be heard over the wind rushing around us. I nodded my head, tightening my grip on the broom. He brought it down slowly, landing in the alley that led to Diagon Alley. We hopped off the broom eagerly, tossing it aside before running into the cauldron, not even thinking about how awful we probably looked. We both ran towards the fireplace in the corner of the room, and I grabbed the Galleon I had been carrying around with me for the last two months. There was a jar sitting on the mantle of the fireplace and I set my galleon on top of it. the gold shimmered for a moment and then disappeared. The lid on the jar opened up and I reached my hand into the pot, grabbing out a large fistful of floo powder. I handed half to Fred before stepping into the fireplace with him. It wasn't the best idea to floo more than one person at a time, but I wasn't letting Fred out of my sight.

"The Burrow!" We both exclaimed before dropping the powder. Green flames rose up around us and I grasped Fred's hand as we disappeared.

We reappeared in the Burrows fireplace, dizzy and out of breath, but excited beyond belief.

"Mum?" Fred called, stepping forward and into the Burrows kitchen. A scream sounded to the left of the room, followed by a loud crash of shattering glass. We both turned towards the noise and only had time to take in the sight of flaming red hair before strong arms enveloped up and pulled us into a soft chest.

"Freddie! Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed, holding us close and burying her head in her son's chest. "You're alive!" Her tears had soaked through our ripped and dirty clothes, joined by our tears as we hugged her back. My ribs were throbbing as she pressed against them, and I'm sure poor Fred's arm was on fire, but we couldn't stop our smiles.

"You've been hurt!" She gulped, pushing back and holding us at arms length. "Sit down, I've got to get the others. Oh Fred, my baby." She bawled again, kissing him on the cheek as I lowered myself on shaky legs into a kitchen table chair. Fred joined me a moment later as Mrs. Weasley started bustling around the kitchen. She grabbed some book off the shelf, one on healing if my memory served me, and sent several lights out of her wand. She came back to us, laying the book on the table.

"What happened?" She asked as she flipped the pages. "Where have you been? How did you get hurt?"

"We were kidnapped mum, what all do you know?" Fred asked, closing his eyes and leaning back into his chair. Mrs. Weasley took his broken arm into her hand, gently turning it over before running her wand along it. He let out a loud hiss of pain before a look of profound relief came across his face.

"Mione's broke at least two ribs." Fred said quickly, opening his eyes again. Before anyone could say anything else, several loud Cracks sounded around us.

"FRED! HERMIONE!" Several wonderfully familiar voices called out. George, Harry, Ron, Mr. Weasley, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all came running towards us, and we were surrounded by red-heads and one raven.


	11. Chapter 11

"What happened?" Was the first questioned asked after everyone had stopped hugging us. My lungs were on fire and I could barely see through the haze that the pain in my side had caused to rise up. I forced myself to take shallow breaths and let Fred answer. We had been moved to the living room couch, and everyone was sitting around us, staring at us as though they were scared we might disappear. I was sitting next to Fred, as close as I could. I wanted to be near him as long as possible. I hadn't stopped crying since we'd arrived. I was crying from happiness, and a little bit of sorrow. It was officially over, my trek and closeness with Fred was finished. Things would return to the way they had been, and I would never get to hold him the way I had for the last week.

Fred managed to explain our two month adventure fairly quickly, and then he asked them what they had thought happened. George told us that he had come back to the shop and found it in shambles from our battle. Both our wands had been left behind and they thought the worse. There hadn't been any contact from our kidnappers, and they hadn't been able to figure out who had taken us, or where. He gave us both back our wands, and holding the simple piece of wood in my hands brought tears to my eyes.

They had looked for us everywhere, they'd even told the muggle police to look out for us. That made both Fred and myself laugh. We could have been home so much faster if we had only known! It was clever really, that way they could cover far more ground. They just hadn't counted on us trying to not get caught.

Harry told us that he had no idea who or what the Keyfinder could be, but that he'd check in on it for us. Once everyone quieted down Fred told Mrs. Weasley about our many, many, injuries and she proceeded to heal us. Finally, for the first time in nearly a week I could breath.

We stayed up late, everyone talking and asking us questions. Mrs. Weasley didn't want to let either of us leave, insisting we stay at the Burrow for the night. We both agreed, mainly because we didn't want to upset her anymore. Plus, the Burrow had an extremely safe and comforting feel that neither of us wanted to leave. So, I was staying in Ginny's old room, and Fred (and George, because no way the two of them were separating again) would be staying in their old room. They also didn't want either of us to go to our own apartments or the shop yet. Since we were the only ones that had been attacked they didn't want to risk whoever it was coming back for us.

I took a long shower, reveling in the feel of the warm water against my sore, but fully healed body. I washed away all the filth of the last few days, and tried to wash away my sadness with it. All hope for Fred and I may not be lost. He said he would like to date me, maybe he would still want to spend time together.

I left the shower a few minutes later and went to my bedroom, changing into my pajamas and then climbing into my bed. I read for a while, trying to calm myself down and get immersed in the story, but I couldn't. Finally, after an hour, I just gave it up for naught and set the book down before laying back in my bed. I lay there for a few minutes, my eyes closed and the covers pulled up around my shoulders before I opened my eyes again and let out an agitated sigh.

I couldn't fall asleep by myself. I had spent the last two months sleeping with Fred, and now I couldn't sleep alone. I lay still for a moment, trying to decide what to do before I finally got up. I grabbed my pillow and wand, and then headed out of the room and upstairs towards the twins room.

I stopped in front of the door and knocked softly, praying that he would let me in and not reject me.

"It's open." Fred's voice called from the bedroom. I took a deep breath, marveling that it didn't cause me any pain, and opened the door. Fred had the bed against the far wall, and he was sitting up in it, the covers over his legs and turned so that he was facing me. The lights were off, but the blinds were up so that the window over his bed let in the moon light. It was just enough light for me to see him.

"Hermione," he said, a smile lifting his lips. My eyes drifted to the other bed and I saw that George was fast asleep with a big grin on his face. I looked back to Fred and gave him a timid smile. "Whatcha doing in here?" He asked.

"I-I couldn't sleep by myself." I stuttered, blushing as I told him the truth.

"Really? I'm so glad to hear that, I was about to go climb in with George." He said, letting out a quiet laugh as he gave his sleeping twin an affectionate smile.

"Do you mind if I climb in with you instead?" I asked, fingering my pillow uncomfortably.

"I'd love that." He said softly, scooting over in his bed so that there was enough room for me.

Love, I so wanted to hear him whisper that word to me, I so wanted to whisper that word to him. I took a timid step forward and smiled at him, fighting down the blush that had risen to my cheeks. He didn't love me, he liked me, that was clear from his kisses, but he didn't love me. He probably never would now. We'd return to our old lives, and neither of us were a part of the others old lives. Tonight would be the last night we'd be able to pretend it wasn't going to be like that. Tonight would be the last night he'd hold me till I fell asleep. The last night I'd fall asleep looking into his beautiful blue eyes.

I needed a cheering charm.

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I woke up rather late the next morning; the soft bed was so much easier to sleep on than the hard dirt. Plus, Fred and I were both exhausted. Imagine, walking across England half dead made you exhausted. No one woke us up, letting us sleep until noon. I woke up warm, but alone. I moved my hand around the bed sheets, searching for Fred's body before I opened my eyes in disappointment to find he was gone.

I got out of the bed and grabbed my pillow and wand before heading towards the door. Right before I could open it the door opened and George burst into the room. For a heartbeat I thought it was Fred, and a huge smile burst across my face, then I realized it was George and my smile faded away.

"Gee 'Mione, someone would think you weren't happy to see me. Or were you hoping I was someone else?" He asked, a big grin breaking across his face. I shook my head adamantly, blushing furiously as he smirked at me and laughed.

"You did!" He accused, letting out a light laugh. "You thought, or hoped, I was Fred." He was standing right in front of me now, and it was making me uncomfortable and nervous.

"N-no." I stuttered, taking a step back.

"You are a rubbish liar Hermione." He said quietly, still smiling.

"Where is Fred?" I asked softly, deciding to stop acting like I didn't want to know.

"He's out with Ange." George said nonchalantly. My chest constricted and my heart dropped to my stomach. He was out with Angelina, the beautiful, athletic, Angelina, his ex girlfriend. I took a deep breath and found myself sinking down onto Fred's bed, hyperventilating again.

"What's wrong?" George asked, sitting down beside me and looking worried. My entire body had tensed up and I couldn't stop shaking. I shook my head, forcing myself to take shallow breaths and calm down. I had known it was coming, Fred and I weren't going to be together when we returned. I just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "Hermione, talk to me, you've grown pale." He said, gripping my arm gently in his hand. I shook my head again and stood, shaking my arm out of his loose hold. I turned my head back towards him and forced myself to smile.

"I'm fine." I said, and then I apparated away. I reappeared back at my flat, and let out a heartbroken sob before running towards my bed. I buried my head in my own pillows and wept.

An hour later I was sitting in the living room with a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream listening to the Beetles. I heard someone knock on my door and I almost ignored it.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice called out, knocking on the door again, and louder. I sat still, hoping if I was quiet enough he would just go away.

"Hermione, I know you're in there." He called out louder, still knocking. "I'll use alohmora."

"Fine." I snapped, standing up and vanishing my ice cream. I wiped my eyes angrily as I walked towards the door. I jerked it open and glared at Harry. He was wearing his auror robes and looked like he had just apparated over here from his work. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes absorbing me and my still pajama clad self. My hair was a mess and I had tear stains on my cheeks.

"Can I come in?" He asked quietly. I let out a sigh and my shoulders slumped.

"Yes." He walked past me and towards my couch, sitting down and watching me as I joined him.

"First, I wanted to let you know that we got one of the bastards who kidnapped you and Fred." Relief flooded my stomach and I closed my eyes, letting out a deep breath before opening my eyes again and giving Harry a watery smile. "Trust me, he's not going to be seeing the light of day again."

He took a breath "Second, I want to know what they did to you 'MIone?" He asked softly. "I know you had two fractured ribs, a lacerated arm, a sprained ankle, and a bruised jaw, but did they do something else?" He asked, a faint blush lighting his cheeks. His green eyes held my own, piercing me and making me want to tell him everything.

"No, he didn't do anything like that." I said quickly, pushing my hair out of my face before looking at him. "That's not the reason I'm over here." I said quietly.

"Thank God." Harry said, closing his eyes and leaning against the couch cushion.

"What made you think that?" I asked, curiously. I didn't think I'd done anything to make them think that.

"George." Harry answered, opening his eyes and staring at me again. "He said that you snuck back into his and Fred's room last night, that you were all fidgety until you were back with Fred. He also said that you acted extremely uncomfortable, even scared, when he stepped close to you. You started to shake and hyperventilate, and then disappeared. That got me thinking back to last night, you didn't hug any of us guys to long, and you stayed next to Fred the entire time. You didn't smiled too much, and you kept crossing your arms like you were trying to protect yourself."

"Wow," I said, my eyes wide and my mouth opened. "Was I really that bad?"

"I didn't notice it until George came to me." He replied quickly. "So what was going on? You've been gone for two months, we all thought you were dead, please tell me. Don't shut me out."

"It's Fred." I answered, tears filling my eyes.

"What did he do?" Harry asked quickly, sitting up straighter and looking mad. It almost made me giggle.

"Nothing," I took a breath before confessing. "I fell in love with him." Harry's eyes grew wide and he looked shocked, his mouth even fell open. "It's not that hard to believe, he's really funny and sweet. Plus, he was my only companion for two months. I've gotten to know him extremely well."

"So you've been locked up here because you fell in love with Fred?" Harry asked, I nodded my head. "So why are you crying?"

"Because it's unrequited." I whispered, tears filling my eyes. Harry reached over and grabbed me in a hug, holding me tight and letting me cry out my broken heart.

_A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter, I'll explain more about why they were taken later. I hope you feel better Katesmom2 I wrote this chapter with you in mind… Everyone be sure and send her soup, she has the flu. _

_Thanks also to Sarah0406 for pointing out that I forgot Charlie last chapter!_

_Ps, don't worry, Hermione and Fred will get together! (I'm writing this story, you can guarantee it will end happily and fluffily!)_


	12. Chapter 12

"Mrs. Weasley's having a big dinner at the Burrow, and she wants you to come." Harry said, helping me stand and brushing my hair out of my face. We'd been talking for almost the entire day. He'd let me pour my heart out, and he'd listened the entire time. "Do you want to come, or would you rather I made you an excuse?"

"No, I'll come." I told him, giving a watery smile.

"Great, I'm heading over there now, do you want to come with me?"

"Sure, just give me a moment." I would love going with Harry, it would give me an excuse to hang around him. I went to my bedroom and got changed quickly, pulling my hair back and casting a charm to make my eyes not look like I had spent most of the day crying. I came back out into the living room a moment later and took Harry's arm. He apparated us to the Burrow, right into the kitchen. Ron and George were already there, both seated at the table while Mrs. Weasley cooked. They had been in some deep discussion, both with extremely worried looks on their faces before they saw us. They immediately stood, looking at me uncomfortably. A small grin lifted my lips and I felt a strong surge of affection for the two of them. I stepped towards George and wrapped my arms around him in a loose hug. He stood frozen in my arms for a moment before raising his arms and holding me gently.

"Uhm, you do realize I'm George, right?" He said timidly, rubbing my back. I gave a wet laugh and nodded my head.

"Yes, I can tell the difference." I said quietly, a wry grin lifting my lips. I pulled back after a moment and smiled up at him.

"Thanks for worrying George, I'm sorry if I scared you." I said quietly enough that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be able to hear, but Ron and Harry could. "I'm fine though, nothing like that happened to me, or Fred." I finished, stepping back next to Harry. A relieved grin lifted George's face and his eyes brightened up.

"I'm back!" A voice I loved called from the stairs. I turned towards it, a grin erupting across my face despite the fact that I knew we'd never be more than friends. Fred thundered down the steps and then in to the Kitchen before joining George. "The party can begin." He finished, winking at me. My cheeks flushed and my heart fluttered, even though I knew it was a harmless flirt.

"So, mum, what's for dinner?" Fred asked, walking up behind his mum and looking into her pot. Harry stepped closer to me, giving my back a gentle pat while attempting not to glare at Fred. That made me really smile, the idea that Harry took my side.

"Your favorite chicken." Mrs. Weasley replied, smiling up at Fred lovingly. Fred glanced back at me and gave me another quick wink, and my mouth dropped open as I realized what he was about to do.

He was going to prank his mother!

A huge grin erupted across my face and I had to fight the urge to burst out laughing. We had barely been home a day and he was already fulfilling his dare. Merlin! That meant I'd have to fulfill my dare. I'd have to jump into the Burrow's lake starker's. Oh my god.

"Smells great!" Fred said, planting a kiss on his mother's cheek. His left hand gave a barely audible flick, and I saw George's eyes widen in surprise. Fred stepped back and went to join his brother, and half a second later, an explosion sounded from next to her pot and the room was engulfed with a neon green smoke. A loud laugh erupted from Fred and George, followed by a yelp from Mrs. Weasley. A moment later the smoke dissipated, leaving a very Green Mrs. Weasley behind. A heart beat later she turned bright pink, and then purple. She kept rapidly changing colors, so fast it almost hurt my eyes.

"FRED GIDEON WEASLEY!" She bellowed, holding her spoon up threateningly. Fred stopped laughing and his eyes grew wide before he took a small step backwards. She stepped towards him, her face scrunched up in a fierce scowl. Fred took another step backwards and ran into the table, successfully ending his retreat. Mrs. Weasley took another step towards him before bursting into tears and grabbing him in a tight hug. Harry, Ron, George, Fred, and my mouth all dropped open in surprise as she started to kiss his cheek and hug him even tighter. After a moment Fred managed to unfreeze and raised his arms, hugging her back.

"Oh Fred!" She cried out.

"Shh," he murmured, stroking her hair gently. "I'm right here Mum." He lowered her down into a chair and sat beside her, rubbing her arm and whispering something to her. I caught Harry's eyes and we both stepped out of the room quietly, feeling awkward about seeing such a private moment. By the time we reached the sitting room Ron and George had joined us.

"Well," George said cheerily as he plopped down onto the couch. "Gotta say, I did not see any of that coming."

"Yeah, why'd he keep winking at you while he pranked her?" Ron asked, staring at me suspiciously. I giggled, fighting back a full fledge laugh at the memory of Fred's face when I told him to prank his mother.

"While we were making our way back here, Fred got bored and wanted to play a game. He chose truth or dare. I told him that wouldn't work because we couldn't dare each other while we were in the middle of the woods. So he decided we'd just make them future dares."

"You mean you dared Fred to prank our mum?" George asked, sitting up and beaming. "Bloody brilliant 'Mione!"

"Did he dare you?" Ron asked, an evil grin working its way up his face. My eyes widened and I gave a stiff nod as my face lit up in a blush.

"Ooh! What'd he dare you?" George asked, noticing my bright blush. I shook my head no and he frowned. "Come on, tell, its gotta be good to make you light up like that."

"Oh, it is, trust me, it's good." Fred's voice came from the door way. My eyes grew even wider and I whipped my head towards him, begging him with my eyes not to tell them, not to humiliate me. "It's bloody brilliant, and we are the only two who are going to know what it was." He finished, giving me a wink.

'Thanks' I mouthed, fighting down a blush and the dumb butterflies that had risen in my stomach since he walked into the room.

"Mum wanted you to get the extra table cloth out of Ginny's old room, don't ask me why it's in there. I've no idea." Fred said nonchalantly, stepping into the room and sitting next to me. I jumped up and nodded my head before turning towards, and racing up the stairs. I opened the door to the room and walked to the closet before I grabbed the table cloth off the top shelf. I turned back around and left the room, shutting the door behind me. I reached the staircase and almost dropped the table cloth. Fred was standing at the top, leaning against the banister with an easy smile.

"That's not the right one, Hermione." He said softly, stepping closer. I took a step back, fighting to keep my breathing even.

"O-okay," I stuttered, reaching for the door knob behind me. I found it and turned it before stepping backwards into the room and shutting the door quickly, leaving Fred outside. I took a breath and calmed my racing heart, letting the tears that were filling my eyes fall. I let go of the door knob and took a step back, letting out a puff of air before turning around.

I dropped the table cloth.

Flying around in the room in front of me were at least fifty owls, and they were all hooting eagerly as they swarmed me. My mouth dropped open and I let out a wet laugh. How had he done that? I hadn't been out of this room for more than a minute.

A pretty tawny owl flew right in front of me, sticking its leg out and hooting importantly. A smile lifted my lips as I saw a single little box attached to it. I untied it, stroking the birds feathers as I did so. He gave a pleased hoot and then flew to join the other owls. I turned the package over in my hands gently, blinking tears away from my eyes. It was wrapped in purple paper that was held on with a small piece of string. I untied it gently and pulled the paper off, letting it fall to the floor.

Before I could open the box though, the owls all let out a loud hoot and I looked up just as I felt arms circle around me. I froze for a moment, recognizing a wonderful musky cologne that Fred wore.

"You walk in beauty, like the night," He said, and I let the tears filling my eyes fall as I heard him recite my favorite poem to me. "Of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all that's best of dark and bright" He continued, slowly turning me around so I was facing him. His eyes were bright and full of emotion as he looked at me earnestly. "Meet in your aspect, and your eyes; Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies." He finished, holding me tight.

"Do you still want to give us a shot, Hermione?" He asked quietly, pulling back slightly so he could see me. I nodded my head, tears still spilling down my cheeks.

"I-I do, but what about Ange?" I asked wetly, my heart was hammering against my chest as his eyes widened.

"Ange?" he questioned. "Oh no, you thought I…" he shook his head, a tender smile lifting his lips. "Open the box, 'Mione, it'll explain what I was doing." I forced my eyes away from his and looked down at the small box I was still holding. I removed the top with shaky hands, before sucking in a painful breath. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with an oval shaped locket. It had a horned owl engraved on the front with the letter 'H' etched out beneath it. I pulled it out gently, breathing out an 'O.' I opened it slowly, letting out a painful breath when an image of Fred's and my first kiss popped up.

"It's a special charm necklace, you can put a copy of a memory in it and it projects it like an image. Plus, I put a special charm on it so that if you ever get kidnapped again all you have to do is press the owls beak and it'll send out a homing signal." He explained taking it out of my grasp and stepping behind me. I moved my hair from my neck and let him slip it on. He stepped back around and looked at me, a worried look in his handsome eyes.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, unable to say more.

"Ange works at a magical jewelry shop, that's why I went to go see her." He said, brushing my hair out of my eyes. "I never meant to make you think that. I really, _really_, like you Hermione."

"Good," I whispered back, stepping closer to him and taking in a deep breath. "Because I really like you too, and now I can breathe again."

"Huh?" He asked, blinking as I stepped even closer.

"Now I may never stop kissing you." I finished. I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed myself up before planting a firm kiss on his lips.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you really going to make me do this?" I asked as we ran across the backyard.

"Yes!" was Fred's immediate, and excited reply. We ducked behind the trees that lined the lake, hoping that no one had seen us leave the Burrow. Everyone should still be asleep, but we could never be too sure.

"Come on, Hermione." Fred said, laughing lightly. I shook my head before waving my wand over my self. I cast a warming charm, thanking Merlin I had my wand again. I set it down carefully next to the bush I was hiding behind. I blushed even more before taking a deep breath and stepping out from under the cover of the trees. It was about five in the morning, and cold, but neither one was a good enough excuse to get out of my dare. Fred was determined to make me follow through. His eyes followed me now as I neared the lake, making my heart flutter and my breath quicken. I shot one last glance at him, before giving him the cheekiest smile I could manage. I turned back and faced the lake, took a deep breath, and then ran for the lake and dived into the freezing water. I resurfaced a moment later, thanking Merlin I knew how to do a warming charm. I took another deep breath before swimming further out into the lake. I dived under the water and looked around for a moment before resurfacing with a bundle in my hands. I pulled on the top and bottom and smiled over at Fred before turning and swimming even further out. Since I had to jump in the lake, I might as well make the most of it. I dived back under the water, letting the coolness of it relax and fully wake me.

A splash sounded right behind me and I jumped, spinning around in the water to see Fred resurface right beside me, wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks. I forced myself to keep my eyes locked firmly on his as a bright blush lit up my entire body. He grinned wickedly at me and swam even closer, moving his face so it was centimeters from my own. I sucked in a breath and had to fight back a shiver.

"Did I mention how extremely beautiful you are?" Fred asked huskily, treading water in front of me. I shook my head no, unable to do anything else with him so near. He smiled softly, raising his hand and brushing a wet lock of hair behind my ear. "Then please allow me to correct that gross oversight." He moved his face closer still, so that there was only a millimeter between our faces.

"You are beautiful." He breathed, and then he kissed me. He pulled back a minute later, a huge smile on his face.

"I can't believe you actually did it. You jumped into our lake starkers." He said, letting out a laugh. I flushed again before smiling. Fred pulled back slightly and smiled as he eyed me.

"Never doubt me, Fred Weasley." I said, smirking as he looked down at my bathing suit with wide, approving eyes. "I'll always surprise you." I said simply, before splashing him. He yelped and then promptly splashed me back, and then a full fledge splash battle commenced. He lunged after me, wrapping his arm around me and splashing me with the other. I hopped up and wrapped my legs around him, splashing him back before I saw his eyes start to darken. I froze, and found myself leaning in towards him. He closed the distance, bringing both his arms up around me and kissing me hard and deep. His hands traveled up and down my side, making me warmer and urging me to deepen the kiss. We kissed for a long time, neither of us so weak that we had to stop. It was pure heaven. When we did break apart, long, long minutes later, we were both breathing heavier. He leaned his head against mine, holding me close to his body.

"Merlin," He murmured, rubbing his head against mine. "I have a confession, 'Mione."

"What?" I whispered back, holding him even tighter as we floated in the cool water.

"I've fallen in love with you." He said softly, leaning back and looking me in the eyes. My heart stopped, and then started beating double time as I stared at him. My mouth dropped open and I closed and opened it several times, probably looking like a fish. Appropriate, I guess, since we were still in the water.

"Really?" I questioned, happy tears filling my eyes. "I love you too Fred." I said earnestly, holding onto him tighter still. His eyes lit up and he pulled my face back to his, sealing our confessions of love with a sweet, tender kiss. We stayed in the water for a little longer before heading back towards the shore and getting dressed again. As we headed back to the Burrow I couldn't keep from smiling. My panic attacks from yesterday seemed like they had happened years ago. How could I have ever doubted that he would still want to date me? I had never seen him falling in love with me though, not even in my wildest dreams. As we climbed out of the lake I smiled to myself nonchalantly, while I pulled on his robe. He was nice enough to offer it to me since he was the one who had made me run out here naked. "I'll be stopping by WWW this afternoon."

"Aww, are you coming to see me because you'll miss me?" he asked, his eyes twinkling as he stepped out of the lake and walked over to where his shirt was. He shook his hair and water droplets sprayed everywhere, leaving his hair spike out in crazy directions.

"Nonsense," I replied, putting on my best business persona. "you still need to finish your paper work on Pygmy Puffs."

He let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back and letting his laughter ring across the lake. I joined in after a moment, unable to stop myself when I heard him. We stopped walking and just laughed, stepping closer to each other as we did. A moment later I heard a loud bang come from behind us and I ran forward, tackling Fred to the ground before rolling over and reaching beside him for my wand.

"Protego!" I shouted out, sending a shield charm over us before summoning Fred's wand. It flew from the other side of the lake and he caught it as we both rose up. Four dark figures had landed on the other side of the lake, and they were headed towards us with dark, fierce, frowns. I recognized each of them, but it was the one in the center that drew my eye the most. He was the same one that had captured, and then tortured us.

He was mine. I charged forward, sending a freezing charm at the lake so I could get across it. I sent spells at the death eaters, keeping my eye on Fred, he was by my side, running just as hard, a look of fierce protectiveness on his handsome, healed, face.

The loud bangs of spells exploded around us, igniting the early morning sky and creating a ruckus that had to be hearable from the house. I sent out stunners at the figures on the outside of the group, hoping to bring them down first so that the two of us could put all our energy into bringing the middle ones down. I managed to bring one down, but the other deflected my spell. An explosion sounded behind me and I dove to the right, slipping on the ice and falling to the ground. Someone screamed to my left and I sent another stunner at our kidnapper.

"Bombardo!" Harry's voice sounded behind me and I almost started at the sound of it. A heart beat later I saw George, Ron, and Harry leap onto the lake and start fighting the wizards. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were right behind them, and the wizards were having to fall back from the sheer power of our onslaught. We brought another down and the only one left was the dark haired wizard I had grown to hate over two months. I made it back to my feet and shot spell after spell at him, feeling Fred appear at my side.

He tried to deflect all of our spells, but we were too much for him, the seven of us overwhelmed him, and his shield buckled under the force of our spells.

"STUPIFY!" Fred and I both screamed, ours spells hit him square in the chest and he flew up in the air before flying back into a tree, sinking to the ground unconscious.

Harry reached the other side of the lake a heartbeat later, his wand out and aimed at the fallen figures. He bound them up quickly, a dark look on his face. "Enervate." He muttered, pointing his wand at the head wizard. We had all reached him by now, and we all had our wands leveled at his chest. He gave a great moan and opened his eyes. He looked around for a moment before he saw Fred and me, his eyes narrowed and a sneer lifted his lips as he looked up at us.

"Why did you take them?" Harry demanded, pushing his wand into the man's chest. "What is the keyfinder?"

The man's head rolled back and he let out a laugh, eerie and mirthless. I shivered at the sound of it and scooted closer to Fred. George was on his other side and I saw Fred holding him back gently. It looked like it was taking every bit of will power they had not to jump the wizard and pound him to a pulp.

I know it was taking all of mine.

"There is no such thing as a keyfinder." He said, his voice just as hoarse and gruff as I remembered it. "We always ask that question, no one can answer it."

"So why ask it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"To torture them. It drives them crazy slowly. They try to think of an answer, but there is none." He said, still laughing. Bile rose in my throat and I took an involuntary step backwards. They, he kept using that word. He'd done this before, to someone else. Fred and George both tensed up, their faces darkening as they glared at the wizard. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both grew still, their hold on Ron loosening as they stared at the wizard with undisguised hate.

"Why take us though?" Fred asked, glaring at the man all the harder.

"We just saw you walking down the alley. We'd never tried two people at a time. You two looked like you couldn't stand each other so we thought it'd be fun."

Merlin, not only had he kidnapped people but he'd left them alone. No matter they went mad, that could have happened to Fred or me. I wouldn't have made it without him. I took another step back and gripped Fred's hand in my own. I didn't want to see this vile excuse for a wizard anymore, I wanted to leave and move past this whole experience. I wanted to go out on a date with Fred and forget I had ever been locked in that dark dungeon.

Harry hit the man with his wand, and he passed out again. He looked over at us apologetically before speaking. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm going to take them in now, they'll never do this again."

"Good." I whispered, not even looking at the wizard anymore. Harry waved his wand over the bodies and they disappeared before he apparated away, leaving the rest of us in an awkward, angry, silence by the lake.

Fred gripped my hand tighter and pulled me to his side, wrapping his arm around me. I nestled into him, feeling warm and secure in his hold. That man had failed, utterly and completely failed. He hadn't broken either of us, and he had actually brought us together.

"Guys?" Ron asked after a second. I turned my head towards him and smiled softly.

"Yes?"

"Why are you wearing Fred's robe?" I looked up at Fred and let out a loud, happy laugh. We would be alright, things were back to the way they had been, and I couldn't have been happier.

"Because she looks good in my clothes." Fred answered before swooping down and claiming my lips in a quick kiss.

Well, not exactly as they had been, but I still couldn't have been happier.

_A/N: And so ends another story. I hope you all like it. I had a lot of fun with this story and learned a few things about Harry Potter, and London that I hadn't known before. Leave a review and let me know what you think!_

_Mischief Managed,_

_-Wizards_Pupil_


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